I Want In
by MP36PH3S
Summary: Bass is not happy that Master Hand has overlooked him for the new Smash, and takes matters into his own hands. But his simple ambition to be champion of Smash becomes more complex when his master gets involved and he discovers more to his personality than he thought existed. Will he finally see a better side of himself, or will he meet his end challenging powers beyond his own?
1. Setup

**Author's Note: So, credit where credit is due. First of all, I want to give a huge shoutout to Flying Chariot for inspiring me to make a Super Smash Brothers fan fiction.**

 **And while you're at it, I highly recommend you to check out her work.**

 **All characters are property of Capcom/Nintendo.**

* * *

 **20XX, Mega Man's Universe**

He was being a pain. Again.

Wily hadn't been spared many moments from Bass' anger, whether his ultimate creation was in his sight or not. He wasn't working on any plans as of yet, otherwise he would have had Bass shut down, but the gold-and-black android was being very annoying indeed. Wily couldn't even play any music without him unceremoniously blasting the source apart with a hail of shots.

The reason was plastered all over every news station. Mega Man had apparently received and invitation to join a league of elite fighters in some far-off land. While most analysts spent their time speculating whether Wily would take advantage of his absence to continue his plans, the Robot Masters and Bass had been discussing, or in the latter's case, fuming over why he hadn't been invited too.

Truth be told, while Wily had to agree that it was rather unfair to recognize one and not the other, he couldn't be bothered to care. He was still weak from his bout of influenza, and his age made his recovery all the more sluggish and painful. Not to mention that he had his other project to finish before his passing. Any hopes for immediate revenge on Dr. Light would have to wait; with Mega Man absent, Bass could not be counted on to cooperate, and Wily had no plans on the drawing board. At least, not until he completed -

An explosion broke his train of thought. Wily brought up a security camera feed to see Bass standing over the remains of...Astro Man? What the hell did he think he was doing?

Wily was about to activate his override when he heard Bass muttering to himself.

"I'll show them. I'll redefine their definitions of power..."

Of course. Mega Man was leaving today. Wily took his hand off the override switch. This would be entertaining to watch.

* * *

Flash Man stared determinedly ahead, trying not to focus on the sun's reflection off his shiny dome. He hated the damn thing, but Wily insisted it was crucial to the operation of the Time Stopper, so he dealt with it.

"Ugh - !" Flash Man raised his one hand to try and pry away the arm around his neck, but it was no use. With a sharp jerk, Bass severed the power conduits to his head, and he fell dead.

"Not fast enough, baldy."

* * *

"Guagh!" Napalm Man screamed as Treble's teeth tore into his armored body, shredding the steel like paper.

Bass didn't even wait for his companion to finish before blasting Napalm Man in the face, kneeling down, and copying his weapon data.

"Hm," he grumbled to himself, consulting an internal list he had made. "Let's go, Treble."

* * *

To Bass' moderate surprise, Dr. Wily did not say anything as the robot kicked the door to the workshop down without a word, seized something Wily had been working on for him, and left.

 _"Maybe the old man can finally see some sense. I_ will _prove to him that I am the strongest of them all."_

* * *

"Guhk - !" Magic Man gagged as Bass kneed him in the back.

"Treble, kill!" Magic Man's eyes widened in horror as the wolf's jaws closed on his face.

* * *

Knight Man was preparing for his next joust. Thankfully the students at Oxford who had created him found the decency to find him this job after the disastrous Robot Master tournament.

A flicker of movement in the corner of the dim chamber caught his eye. Then someone shoved him from behind hard enough to make him fall on his face.

No words of protest escaped. Treble slashed through his neck in the next second. Bass copied Knight Man's weapon and teleported away again.

* * *

Pharaoh Man was accustomed to tricks of the light and swift movement. But even he was caught off guard when Bass materialized in front of him with a swish of...some sort of cloak? He didn't have time to comprehend the sight before Bass shot him in the face.

Copying Pharaoh Man's weapon system, Bass stood up again and disappeared with another swish.

Mega Man was due to leave soon, and he needed to find out how he was getting to this new place. But first, he had one more weapon to copy.

* * *

Elec Man was helping his brother pack. He'd also been chosen, although the letter had stated he would be serving as an Assist Trophy, whatever that was. Regardless, the robot was proud to be recognized for his power.

Rock left the room to go retrieve something else. Though they really didn't need to pack anything as the letter had said that they would be provided lodging and food (or, energy in their case), Rock's sense of sentimentalism was getting to him. Elec Man sighed and sat down to await his brother's return.

Out of nowhere, a hand seized Elec Man by the chest, held it for a few seconds, then let him go. Elec Man suddenly blinked, confused as to how he was suddenly standing up.

"I got it, Elec Man! Now we can finish packing!" Elec Man put the strange incident aside and moved to help his brother.

Outside Light Labs, Bass pulled his head away from the window, satisfied his intrusion hadn't been noticed. Then again, he shouldn't have expected any less if he could stop time itself. Why Flash Man never bothered with such use of his power was beyond his guess.

He quickly dove into a bush when he heard the front door open and Rock and Elec Man venture outside.

"Um, the letter said promptly at 3:00. It's almost time. How do you think - "

A white hand suddenly began to unravel itself from thin air in front of them. It bowed to the two before speaking.

"Greetings, contestants. I am Master Hand, the creator of your new home. If you will be so kind as to follow me?" He put his thumb and index finger together before spreading them apart, and a portal opened in the space between them. Master Hand glided mostly through before beckoning Rock and Elec Man to follow with his index finger.

"Come, I promise I mean you no harm. I shall explain more about Smashverse and the other contestants when we arrive at the mansion. All will be made clear, I assure you. But for now, you must trust my word."

"Treble, come!" With his cloak hiding everything but the blur of motion he created, Bass crossed the yard, standing inches behind Mega Man. Master Hand changed the bearing of his index finger slightly, but gave no other sign of detecting Bass' presence. Well, it was one thing to worry about, and when someone had to police all these different worlds when their champions were away, he'd take it. Dealing with Bass wouldn't be much of a problem anyway.

"I assure you, your world will come to no harm while you are gone, my dear robots." Master Hand raised himself up in a _trust me_ gesture. "I have seen to it. Now please come, I have others I must welcome." Elec Man started forward, and Rock fell obediently into stride of his older brother.

Bass followed closely behind, Treble at his heels. The portal began to close immediately behind Rock; Bass easily stepped over the rim, but Treble had to lunge through it. Thankfully the sight beyond was too overwhelming to the two Light bot's senses for them to notice.

Bass grinned with satisfaction. He was in.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Only setup here, sorry Smash fans.**


	2. A Not-so-Warm Welcome

**Author's Note: So I have decided to continue the story. I might change the title to more accurately reflect the plot, but for now it stay's the same.**

 **Special thanks to Flying Chariot for encouraging me to take this up.**

 **As a serious _Fire Emblem_ fan, I felt obliged to give the FE characters a little more exposure in this story. To make things clear, the timeline I followed here is that Lucina has married the male Avatar (who I shall call Robin here for simplicity), and Morgan is their daughter.**

 **And no, there will not be any cross-universe pairings in this story.**

 **The chapters will also be a bit shorter than in my other stories; this one is going to be on the long end compared to others.**

* * *

"Ugh," Chrom grunted as he watched his daughter and tactician attacking Captain Falcon. He tried to push himself up to help them, but his injuries were too great.

He had seen the letter for himself, and while he was proud of his Lucina being invited, it had been rather irritating to be ignored. Until Captain Falcon had shown up. Now that the bounty hunter had solidly beaten him, Chrom resigned himself to his exclusion. "I suppose I'll get my chance...another day..." A wave of pain surged through him and he grit his teeth, temporarily abandoning his efforts to rise.

"No, yours comes today, Chrom, Exalt of Ylisse," a voice said above him. He was suddenly surrounded in a golden aura and he could feel his injuries fading. The fighting had stopped as Robin and Lucina turned to face the newcomer. Meanwhile, Captain Falcon backed further away.

"Do not think you are going anywhere, Falcon," Master Hand called, noticeably irritated. "Fighting with other contestants before the tournaments begin is against the rules! As a veteran, I would think you understand that!"

"Sorry, Master Hand, but there's no harm in a little fun, is there? Know your opponent, that's the strategy to win!"

"Harm? Have you not seen the damage you have inflicted on this man? This is not Smashverse, Falcon, my protective powers have no hold here!"

Captain Falcon said nothing more, but instead let his gaze slowly drift towards Lucina while Master Hand continued to heal Chrom's injuries. The deity, unfortunately, noticed.

"Haven't you caused enough strife already, Falcon? Off with you, now!" He flicked his index finger and Captain Falcon fell backwards through a portal that had opened behind him. "My apologies. Always reckless and looking for a fight, that one is."

"Who are you?" Chrom demanded, finally able to stand. Lucina rushed to help him stand.

"I am Master Hand, creator and ruler of Smashverse. I believe you understand why I am here, no?"

They nodded. "Well then, we should not delay any further. I am, unfortunately, extremely busy. Follow me, please." He opened up a portal with his fingers and beckoned them to follow.

"Wait, what about our realm? And our friends?" Lucina asked. _"And Morgan,"_ she thought.

"Your kingdom will be safe whilst you are gone," Master Hand assured them. "I will not allow other worlds to fall into chaos on account of my tournament. As for your daughter, you will see." Lucina's face had gone ashen at that. "Oh," Master Hand chuckled, "I do not read minds, Princess. Decades of experience with creation have familiarized me with the human personality on the most intimate of levels. I assure you, I merely create; I do not, and cannot, manipulate what has been made. Now we must be going."

"Pardon me, but could I have a word with her before she leaves?" Chrom asked.

"Take your time. I shall open another entrance - " Master Hand passed Chrom a note " - here, and you are free to enter when you wish. As for saying goodbye, Chrom, it is unnecessary. Robin and Lucina both accepted only on the condition that you accompany them. Farewell for now, contestants. I must be going."

And he departed, the portal closing behind him, leaving a stunned Chrom and beaming Robin and Lucina in the Arena Ferox, which had strangely repaired itself during their conversation.

* * *

 **Smashverse**

"Ah, Bass, I presume?" It was not Master Hand who addressed the robot, but a different one. This one twitched and moved erratically, occassionally clenching in a death grip, and radiated a dark aura. "I am Crazy Hand, the brother of Master Hand. Since he did not expect your arrival so soon - and you know he is a busy being - he requested that I show you around instead. If you will follow me." It wasn't a request, but a command. Bass grudgingly obliged; if he was going to be a part of this tournament, he'd have to play by other people's rules...for now.

Once he had been shown his room and Crazy Hand left, Bass started to wander around the mansion and grounds again. Over the course of the next few hours the place started to become more populated; it appeared as though the newcomers had moved in first.

Bass sat in the shadow of a tree at the far edge of the front lawn, observing the other Smashers getting to know, and in some cases, reacquainting with each other. He grit his teeth angrily when he recognized Sonic, who was in animated conversation with Mega Man and winged boy that Bass didn't know.

Before he knew it, he was on his feet. Treble followed at his heels. Rage pulsed inside of him. He could come to grips with losing to Mega Man - while the latter might win in a one-on-one, Bass had accomplished feats not even Mega Man could, or at least beaten the Blue Bomber to it. But his pride refused to let him stand defeat to another.

"Pika!" A small yellow creature yelped as he stepped on it. Bass ignored Pikachu and kept marching towards the group.

Meanwhile, some of the other contestants had noticed the newcomer striding wordlessly and angrily into their midst. Bass changed his arm into his buster as he drew closer.

Meanwhile Pikachu was growing rather irritated with this stranger who had unceremoniously stepped on him without apology. A cloud formed over Bass and a second later a thunderbolt shocked him. Treble tackled Pikachu in the next instant while Bass turned to examine him.

"What sort of freak is this supposed to be?" He never got the chance to shoot though, as several other creatures soon had Treble surrounded. They remained mute, but their message was clear. Reluctantly Bass signaled Treble to drop Pikachu, who yelled "Pika!" after them angrily but did no more.

"Well, there's one way to make a first impression," Sonic grumbled from behind him. "Though I would say it's not a good one."

Bass turned to face him. "What do I care of _impressions_? All that matters to me here is victory and becoming even stronger. And speaking of victories - " he re-equipped his buster " - you're a dead rodent for that last one."

"What, when we beat you on the Wily Egg? Pfft, you don't stand a chance now, not without Metal Sonic to help you."

"Why don't you go ahead and give it a try then? Afraid you'll lose?" Bass lunged for Sonic's neck, but the hedgehog vanished in a blur.

"I'm not even warmed up, and already you're too slow!" he taunted, spinning his legs.

"Why you - ! I'm going to flatten you into roadkill!" Bass's golden highlights turned green and yellow.

"No!" Mega Man suddenly tackled him from out of nowhere, using Super Arm to hold him down. Treble leapt on him and clamped his jaws on his neck, causing the Blue Bomber to gasp and relinquish his grip as he tried to pry the vicelike jaws apart.

Bass grinned wickedly in triumph as he spread his hands. "Astro Crush!" The sky darkened and the contestants looked up to see a meteor shower descending on them.

* * *

"Naga!" Lucina exclaimed. "What is this sorcery?! The very sky is falling on us!"

"That's it. He needs to be stopped." Robin started forward, drawing his sword.

"Robin, no! He'll destroy you!" Lucina started after him.

"We don't need to kill him, just stall him long enough for Master Hand to get here and put an end to this madness! Now come on!"

Before Lucina could protest further, another voice said, "I'm with you, Robin! Let's take this hothead down a peg!" To their surprise, Captain Falcon was running alongside them, as was a green-haired woman and two blonde youths, one with a sword and shield and the other with a strange-looking energy blade.

But their intervention was proven quite unnecessary at that moment.

"ENOUGH!" Master Hand yelled, so loudly that the contestants nearest to him were knocked off their feet. With a wave of his hand, the Astro Crush vanished.

"What has been happening here?" he demanded. When nobody answered, he sighed.

"Such is the trouble of bringing so many diverse personalities together," he grumbled, before raising his voice again. "I gave you a chance to reveal yourselves, troublemakers. Now, you will face the consequences for having the nerve to start a fight under my nose and not admit it." He grabbed several of them and unceremoniously threw them inside the mansion before slamming the door, though it didn't really matter. His yelling was so loud it was visibly shaking the building.

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY IT?! NO FIGHTING OUTSIDE OF THE ARENAS! SONIC, PIKACHU, I EXPECTED BETTER FROM YOU, AND FOR YOU TO REMIND OUR NEWCOMERS OF THAT!"

"Boy, I've never seen him that angry," Pit remarked. Some of the other veterans muttered assent.

"DO NOT THINK YOU ARE OFF THE HOOK BECAUSE OF THIS, BASS!"

Robin cleared his throat. "Well, as long as we are here, we may as well make acquaintances with each other. My name is - "

"THEN CONTROL YOUR TEMPER BETTER! THERE IS NO EXCUSE! PERIOD!"

"I think," Dark Pit remarked slowly, "introductions will have to wait. Besides, this is far too entertaining to miss out on." Behind him, a loud bang made everyone jump. Apparently Master Hand had pounded himself into the floor in frustration.

* * *

The fighters had awkwardly dispersed as the yelling got even louder if that was possible.

Mega Man had sat down in the garden, contemplating what was going to happen. Rush was lying by his feet, and Beat was flying between the trees. It was quiet here, but despite the serenity he was quite worried about what would happen to them; Master Hand did not look like a figure easily perturbed. At least, they would be suspended from matches for some time, if not evicted and sent home.

 _"Wait, why am I worrying about Bass?"_ Despite the fact they'd been on the same side recently, Mega Man was no fool even if he gave chances too willingly. He knew Bass was doing it for his own purposes. And Bass had taken his trust when they first met and slapped him in the face with it. That recollection still made him angry.

 _"But others have said that he has the same potential to see right and wrong. We can't all be hopelessly optimistic."_

 _"Regardless of his potential, his basic programming is to terminate me."_ No robot had complete free will; even Mega Man himself. While Dr. Light had never verbally forced him to do any fighting, he had programmed his son with the sense of justice to compel him to do so, time and time again, against ever-greater obstacles and odds. Just like there were mental reactions that humans couldn't avoid, so there were instincts even Robot Masters were bound to.

Beat chirruped and spread his wings as he jumped from another tree. Suddenly a stone struck him and he fell to the ground. A girl's laughter rang out. "Gotcha!"

"Morgan!" Another voice, also female, but slightly older-sounding. "Behave yourself! We are here as guests!" Beat shook off the hit and tried to take flight again, only for another stone to hit him.

"Morgan, I'm warning you!"

"Oh come now, mother, this is Smashverse! A few stones won't damage it, not with Master Hand's protections present. Besides, I don't throw hard, just well."

Mega Man picked up a faint sigh of frustration. "It's not polite to injure other people's companions, regardless of how much damage it physically does!"

"He can't be injured, he's a machine!"

"Um, if I may interrupt," Mega Man started, for he sensed Lucina might be on the verge of losing her temper, "It's fine. Beat's a tough bird; he's been through worse."

"Be that as it may, I apologize for my daughter's lack of sensitivity. Go to your room, Morgan."

"You mean our room? And this isn't your house!"

"Morgan, don't make me tell your father about this!"

"Okay! I'm going!" she disappeared down the path, whistling to herself. Lucina waited until the sound had faded before speaking again. Rock, meanwhile, told Rush and Beat to head back to their room.

"I apologize for the poor first impression my daughter has made. I am Princess Lucina of the Halidom of Ylisse."

"Heh, a newcomer too?" Mega Man asked. "My name's Rock, but they call me Mega Man."

"But there's nothing 'mega' about you," Lucina said without thinking. She turned slightly red a second later. "Apologies, that was rude of me."

But Rock just laughed. "Nah, it's fine, I get that all the time. I was named after my primary weapon, the Mega Buster. Anyways, pleasure to make your acquaintance, your Highness."

"O-Oh, um, well, Princess or Lucina is fine. I'm not one for long, fanciful titles."

"I stand corrected." Mega Man bowed slightly. "So, you must have a story too, right?"

"Well, it...it's not something I want to talk about right now." Now it was his turn to be embarrassed. Of course he should have figured that not everyone would have a history like his.

"I'm sorry for being pushy. You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to." He sat and she stood in silence for a few moments. "Wanna sit down?" He moved aside slightly to make room for her on the stone bench.

"Um, I don't think that would be proper, seeing as I already have a husband."

"Come on now, your husband must trust you more than that otherwise he would have been following you! I don't have any intentions, I swear."

Well, it couldn't hurt to be polite. So Lucina set herself down.

"Ooooh!" Morgan suddenly leapt out of a nearby bush. "Alone with another man! Just wait until Father hears about this!" She scampered off, cackling gleefully and leaving both of them very red in the face.

"Excuse me, I think I should be going," Lucina said quickly before picking herself up and walking hurriedly after her daughter. Mega Man nodded in understanding, but if she caught the movement she didn't acknowledge it.

 _"That darn girl is going to start spreading gossip around, and it's only the first day. What did I get myself into..."_ He gave Lucina a few minutes to put some distance between them before following the path back to the mansion.

* * *

Morgan was still laughing when she emerged from the garden foliage ahead of her mother, who was yelling for her to come back.

Suddenly she ran into something solid and metallic.

"What's so funny, little girl?" Bass growled. "And you shouldn't be here; this world is not for weak children."

"So? Who needs strength when you have wisdom?" Morgan asked cockily.

"Wisdom? If you had any wisdom, you'd have done well to avoid running into me." Bass grabbed her arm as she tried to run past. "I don't think so. You say your brains will conquer my strength? Well, why don't we put that to the test?"

Lucina emerged from the garden path to see her daughter in the grip of none other than the gold-and-black robot from earlier. Without hesitation, she drew Falchion and rushed him. "Let her go, or I will make you pay!"

Lucina saw a flash of dark purple before she was intercepted mid-rush and tackled by Treble. Falchion spun from her hands back into the thick foliage of the garden.

Bass roared with laughter. "Foolish woman, you're no smarter than your daughter!"

Treble snarled but made no further moves. Lucina tried to push the wolf off of her, but he was a lot heavier than she'd expected, and it didn't help her resolve when she saw that his fangs and claws looked sharp enough to rival Falchion's edge.

Meanwhile Bass had lifted Morgan off the ground by her arm and was studying her as though trying to determine what would hurt most without leaving lasting injury, ignoring her protests. He set her on the ground but kept a firm grip on her arm after she started yelling about her arm being dislocated.

With a suddenly surge of effort Lucina shoved Treble off of her and rushed Bass. He didn't even look as he raised his buster and fired a charged shot. Lucina rolled to avoid it and rammed the android with her shoulder, causing herself a considerable amount of pain in the process but dislodging Morgan from Bass' grip.

"Going somewhere? Oho, I don't think so!" Suddenly Lucina's armor felt a dozen times heavier. Falchion's empty scabbard weighed a ton. She took a few more steps forward and collapsed, her legs unable to support the extra weight, pushing Morgan away from her with as much force as she could muster in the process. Meanwhile the powerful magnet inside Bass' buster was slowly drawing her back, and with nothing to grab her hands on, she was helpless to resist.

"Morgan, run!" she screamed. "Don't worry about me! I'll manage!"

She wouldn't and they both knew it. But Morgan took off towards the mansion anyway. Bass tried to magnetize her too, but she was already out of range and didn't have anything metallic on her. He cursed. He'd have to make do with just one.

"Lucina, the time-traveling heroine of Ylisse," he mocked. "Give me a break; this is all it takes to make a hero in your world?" He kicked her hard in the solar plexus as she tried to rise, knocking the wind out of her even though the blow was cushioned by her armor. "Pathetic."

Lucina did not bother to rise again, instead taking the time to catch her breath and try to figure a way out of it. But all she could think of was how foolish she'd been. The shame of certain defeat licked at her insides like a burning fire. What was she thinking? She'd seen his power firsthand, even cautioned Robin against fighting it, and had stupidly challenged him one-on-one! The burning shame within her was now a raging inferno.

"Not so high and mighty without your precious sword, huh?" Bass kicked her hard enough to send her flying back towards the garden. Lucina slid to a stop at the edge of the foliage and suddenly spotted Falchion glinting from just a few feet away. Summoning her will, she scrambled to her feet and dove for her sword, Bass' rapid-fire shots flying all around her. One struck her already-sore shoulder as she picked up Falchion, almost causing her to drop it in pain, but she held firm. She would _not_ yield so long as hope remained. She would see to it that she was avenged for her embarrassment.

"And now," she turned to him with a look of purest loathing, "let's truly see which one is stronger!"

Bass chuckled. "You never learn, do you?" Nothing visibly happened, but Lucina felt her armor tugging at her again, and her sword too. Slowly, inexorably, she was being drawn back towards Bass. She tried to swing her sword, do something to stop this power, but the sword remained locked on its bearing like a compass needle pointed towards north. She only succeeded in losing her footing and falling face first at Bass' feet. Spitting out a mouthful of dirt, she ducked back down just in time to dodge Bass' kick and counterattacked with a swipe that slashed parts of both of his feet off. Bass lost his footing and fell to one knee.

Lucina gave him no respite before kicking him backwards and jumping in the air with Falchion held behind her, ready to deliver a devastating blow. But Bass had outwitted her again. He did a clumsy jump as his golden highlights changed to white and grey, and he did a spin while slashing his arm in a horizontal motion, a blade of pure energy following its path.

There was no avoiding it. She couldn't fight gravity. The Tengu Blade slashed through Lucina's armor and flesh like paper. The cut it left in her wasn't deep owing to the small length and width of the blade, but he had slashed straight across her stomach. Lucina tumbled to the ground, gasping in pain. Falchion spun away again.

Bass watched his vanquished opponent lay on the ground, bleeding and in pain. He felt a twitch of sympathy as he thought back to when the Roboenza virus had overcome him. She must be feeling the same way right now. Broken, ashamed, and utterly helpless. Treble had saved him then; otherwise, he wouldn't be here. The episode had taught him that even the most powerful couldn't go it alone. Another feeling came to the surface as a moan of pain escaped Lucina's lips. Pity.

And then something strange happened. He switched to a weapon he'd copied only because he was too lazy to micromanage the mass copying of weapon data from Wily's archives: Plant Barrier. He hesitated another second before kneeling down over Lucina and turning her so her wound was facing him.

"G-Get o-off - " she feebly attempted to push him away with one arm, but he held her down. He summoned the barrier and four brightly-colored petals flowed out of his buster and surrounded him. He seized one of the petals and placed it over the wound in her stomach. He didn't know what he was doing, or if it would even work. Plant Man's weapon synthesized plant tissue, not animal tissue. Bass wasn't a biologist, but he was fairly certain that the two didn't mix. Still, the parallels to his collapse from Roboenza were too numerous for him to turn heel and walk away.

To his and Lucina's astonishment, the instant the barrier touched her mangled skin, it bonded to it, covering the wound. The combination of energy, cytoplasm, and organic compounds began to break down, her body using the material to regenerate the damaged tissue. Bass applied the other three petals and another whole Plant Barrier before he was certain that the wound had healed. Meanwhile, Treble had retrieved Falchion and, with some difficulty, slid it back into its scabbard. Once he was satisfied that she was healed, Bass stood and suddenly walked away from the stunned princess.

"Um..."

"Nothing happened just now, got it? I won't speak of this to anyone, and neither will you. I never helped you." With a swish of his cloak he and Treble disappeared into the night.

With the energy imbued by the Plant Barrier petals spent, Lucina fell back to the ground, her body exhausted from the strain the treatment had placed on it. The thought that she should return to her room before sleeping flitted across her mind briefly. Oh well, this wasn't a bad place to sleep either. Her last thought was that she didn't even ask the name of her opponent and unexpected savior.

* * *

 **And so the story truly begins. I apologize for the _Fire Emblem_ bias in storytelling for those of you disappointed by it. Other characters from other franchises will make appearances, however, the main characters will still be Bass and Mega Man, and there is a secondary emphasis on the _FE_ characters for reasons that will become apparent later.**


	3. Training Week

**Author's Note: So I realized I've skimmed over an explanation for why Master Hand hasn't said anything. I promise that will be explained here.**

 **Another thing to explain: I thought it was rather strange to invite characters without their families (or at least some form of communication with them), hence why I included Morgan in this story. Since Mega Man has technology, Dr. Light didn't come with him, but obviously it is not known to the universe of** ** _Fire Emblem_** **(just using this as an example), so Master Hand invites Chrom and Lucina/Robin's direct families in addition to the fighters themselves. Chrom's wife will not play a role in the story, so I won't bother choosing one.**

 **One more quick note, please bear with me. Any moves that can't be aimed (like Fox's blaster) in Smash itself will not have that restriction here. It just seems too stupid of anyone to not know how to point a gun somewhere else.**

 **Thank you once again to Flying Chariot for her inspiration and feedback. Senpai noticed me... XD**

* * *

Mega Man had come out of the garden mere seconds after Bass teleported away and found Lucina lying asleep on the ground. Morgan had come running out of the mansion with Robin, Chrom, and Master Hand shortly afterwards.

"I...Is she..." Chrom's question trailed off into silence.

"It looks like she's asleep," Mega Man commented. "I'm still detecting life signs, and she doesn't appear to be in a coma or knocked out, otherwise I would have been able to tell. Though why she fell asleep out here is anyone's guess."

"I already told you, there was - " Robin gently hushed Morgan as Master Hand was busy examining Lucina.

"I believe Mega Man's analysis to be correct. However we should not keep her out here." He snapped his fingers and Lucina, Chrom, Robin, and Morgan disappeared. Master Hand bid Mega Man goodnight and drifted back inside the mansion, the Blue Bomber following suit.

* * *

"Welcome, Smashers! Today marks the start of the training week before competitions begin! As the purpose of this tournament is the ultimate test of your abilities and strength, the resources available to you are..." Bass shut out the rest of Master Hand's orientation speech and took the opportunity to size up his fellow Smashers. Mostly it was just for the purpose of recognizing them; even before the incident with Pikachu yesterday, he had been aware that size and gender were not reliable indicators of power.

And while the other contestants had been sleeping, he, as a robot that required no sleep, had explored the grounds, arenas, and mansion after the scrape with Lucina. He already knew all the rules of the contests and didn't need the conditioning facilities like the humans did; there was really no point to keep listening.

"...and, in the light of recent events, I am going to place the protection upon yourselves rather than the stages, to prevent injuries on account of certain members' - " Master Hand's tone made it clear who he was addressing in particular " - actions. Now then..." Master Hand spread his fingers wide and a golden dust rained down from the tips. Nothing physically changed, but the veterans (and Bass, who had seen references to this in his research) knew what had happened: the enchantment that protected them from physical harm had been cast. They were no longer capable of maiming each other. Their bodies would store the energy of impacts as damage, and it translated to greater knockback when subsequent hits released that energy. It would still hurt; every hit now was comparable to being whacked with a hammer, but it would be nothing that couldn't be healed immediately after a match or training session.

"If you wish to see this protection removed, for whatever reasons, including but not limited to travel to your own universe, you know where to find me, and Crazy Hand will also be able to remove it should I be preoccupied. Good luck to you all, and may the best fighter win."

As the group broke up, chattering amongst themselves, Master Hand turned to his brother as they both exited into the corridor that led to their private rooms. "I do not understand what you see that is so special about Bass."

"He is different from the others."

"In what ways? Characters that fight on the side of darkness have participated before him."

"They fought because of greed. He fights because of pride. He has nothing else to drive him. That makes him a maverick, brother. A fighter such as that one is unpredictably dangerous, and can be guaranteed to try to attain the upper hand by any means. It is the twist on the mechanics of the tournament that you have sought for some time now. And it is not like we have not taken precautions; remember that the suggestion to place the charm upon the fighters rather than the stages was my idea."

"That does not mean he cannot intimidate them or unbalance the competition in other ways! The point of creating this world is to put everyone on even footing!"

"Even, uneven, fair, unfair, it matters not. Bass has been accepted merely due to his entertainment value. And should he prove too uncontrollable, he can easily be put down or evicted on a whim from either of us."

"Both of us," Master Hand corrected. "I will trust your judgement as you have proven yourself to have thought this out well so far, Crazy. But make no mistake, I have drawn a line and do no intend to let you or anybody else cross it."

"Why you listen to my ideas if you have such hesitance to implement them is beyond me," Crazy Hand grumbled. "I suppose even the most _laissez-faire_ of dieties doesn't mind a little micromanaging now and then."

"Just follow him as we agreed upon."

* * *

 _"Your mother and father are dead, tiny one. Hahahaha! Hahahaha! And now it is your turn...to die!"_

 _Lucina held Falchion steady as Grima lunged towards her, shouting one last scream of defiance at the dragon. Yet it was a hollow sound; her voice quavered slightly as the dragon's fangs neared, and her legs began to tremble uncontrollably. She was finished, humanity was finished, evil had won. With the last of her strength she focused on keeping her sword pointed ahead and her posture upright, forcing down the despair and shame of her people's utter defeat for just another moment...Grima might take her life, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of breaking her spirit first..._

With a gasp, Lucina sat bolt upright, whipping her head from side to side. She sighed with relief and lay back down as she recognized the room she shared with Morgan. That hadn't happened. She had succeeded in averting the apocalypse. It was all behind her now.

"...Mother?" Morgan slid off her chair and approached her. "Are you alright?"

Lucina sighed and wiped her arm across her forehead. To her relief, someone had taken her armor off and dressed her in a tunic. "I-It's just a nightmare, dear. I'll be okay." Morgan was too keen to hide things from, so she might as well say it.

"You should talk to father or grandfather about it. I heard that helps. Anyway, there was a meeting for contestants earlier, but father told Master Hand you needed rest. He should be back any minute."

She smiled to acknowledge and Morgan returned to her book on the desk. Lucina thought back to her dream. The nightmares were nothing new - during the war to stop Grima's resurrection they had troubled her to no end - but they hadn't been nearly so vivid since Robin's sacrifice and return. Then it came to her. Bass had her in the same situation last night, feeling the same sense of utter defeat. But Bass had found a shred of mercy within himself while Grima couldn't have cared less about her. And that had made all the difference in an otherwise parallel situation.

As though reading her mind, Morgan asked, "He had a change of heart, didn't he?"

Lucina decided it was best not to answer. Morgan took the hint and said nothing more until the door to their room opened and Chrom entered.

"Morgan, will you please leave us for a minute?" Turning to his daughter, he asked, "How are you feeling?"

Lucina brushed her hair out of her face. "Honestly, I'm fine, father."

"Do you remember what happened?"

"Well..." even though Morgan had technically started it, pushing it off on Chrom's granddaughter would probably more than upset him. "...Morgan and I ran into one of the other newcomers on our way back into the mansion. You know, the gold-and-black one that Master Hand got upset with."

"And because he can't take his revenge on Master Hand himself he goes after you two? That's it. I'm going to have a talk with Master Hand about this troublemaker."

"Father, are you sure he will listen? Would he let him roam around unsupervised if he was serious about punishing him?" But Chrom had already left.

There was a brief exchange of words outside as Lucina slid out of bed and into her armor. Robin entered as she was finishing.

"Robin, can't you do something to convince Father otherwise? I'm not sure Master Hand is in the mood to be lectured."

Robin came to her side and put an arm around her. "I tried, dear. But you know that he can be quite stubborn. Either way, take it as a sign of how much he cares about you. Where are you going?" he demanded as Lucina gently pried herself from his grasp.

"To train for the tournament. Regardless of whether Master Hand excludes him, the newcomer I fought last night is not one to be taken lightly. I have never faced a stronger foe; to win, I must become stronger myself."

Her husband stood up and straightened his robe. "Then let me come with you."

* * *

"Trophy Rush!" Bass readied his weapon as the automated announcer counted down. Master Hand had announced that they were all given a large amount of gold to start with so they could practice using the various other tournament modes before they actually started earning their own gold. Yesterday had taught him that unpredictability had its uses in a one-on-one, but Master Hand had announced that team battles would be taking place first, so Bass had decided to create a moveset imprint with a few moves that he could instinctively use with the slightest thought. And, of course, it wouldn't hurt to familiarize himself with his chosen moves, so as to use them to greater effectiveness. For all his obsession over physical strength, Bass was also aware that the best fighters were usually the ones who could strategize from his failed attempts to destroy Mega Man.

Crates began to fall from the sky. Bass had read up on this mode before starting, so he knew what to do. Aiming his weapon skyward, he fired quick bursts of 5 shots at each before switching targets.

He detected a bomb amongst the next stack of crates. Bass did a backflip to get himself out of blast range before firing a charged shot. The bomb detonated, causing all of the crates to shatter. Bass leapt upwards and slashed behind him with Tengu Blade, cutting a stone block in half with one swipe, shooting down the stream of crates without problem. Another group of crates started to fall, directly on top of him, but he aimed both arms at the ground and the weapons spat out two metallic objects that bounced skyward. The Napalm Bombs collided with the falling crates and vaporized them in a brilliant explosion of orange flames. The fireballs left behind destroyed the rest of the stack, while Bass dashed under them to avoid the lightning bolt that had fallen from the top as a reward for staying in place too long.

* * *

"I understand your concern for your daughter's safety, Chrom, but rest assured, we have the situation under control. I would not have allowed Bass to participate otherwise, I can assure you."

"But - "

"Chrom, Morgan told me this when she ran inside to fetch me last night, and I am not leaving your daughter or her child completely unprotected. Why do you think I placed the protection over all inhabitants of this world, fighter and noncombatant alike, rather than simply have it affect battles in the arenas? It is far more difficult to do so; you will have to trust me when I say it is an inconvenience I would absolutely avoid under different circumstances. I have my suspicions, but having invited Bass, I am obliged to give him a chance to compete."

"There has to be something more than that. He's a danger to the other contestants, to the whole tournament, if he is allowed to just wander wherever he pleases!"

"Chrom, I have my reasons for letting him participate, none of which you need to know."

"Then how can we be assured that - "

"You are not one in a position to judge the actions or powers of others here, Chrom. Remember, you are only here because your daughter and son-in-law requested it, and your judgement about the strength of Smash contestants was clearly wrong if Captain Falcon could beat both you and Lucina simultaneously." Chrom flushed but said nothing more. Master Hand sighed apologetically before speaking again. "Rest assured, Chrom, I will keep a close eye out for any suspicious behavior in the week before the tournament starts, and you have my word that I will see Bass suspended should he provoke any further fights outside of a training center."

Chrom took a minute to control his anger at being taunted before politely thanking Master Hand and leaving the room.

* * *

"Who is he?"

"Where does he come from?"

"I've never seen anyone like him."

"With that kind of power, I'm not surprised he was showing off yesterday."

"This one is quite impressive," Lady Palutena remarked to Pit. "Maybe even better than Link. Which would make him certainly better than you."

Pit was about to protest when a groan went up from some of the spectators who had been cheering Bass on. One of the bombs had exploded in his face and knocked him down. At the same moment a lightning bolt fell from the top of the arena. However, it seemed that Bass had recovered his footing before he'd even hit the ground, so fast was his recovery. He dodged the lightning bolt with a second to spare and continued blasting away as if nothing happened while the spectators cheered and applauded.

A scoff from behind them drew the attention of Palutena and Pit. Elec Man was watching the gawking spectators with ill-disguised contempt.

"If they knew what atrocities he's committed, they wouldn't be nearly so fond of him," he sneered.

"Oh come on, plenty of people are okay with Ganondorf, and he doesn't have a spotless record or the best personality either. We respect each other for our fighting skill first here."

"Don't mind him, Pit. His inner narcissist is nursing the injury of being relegated to trophy status."

Elec Man's electric blue pupils turned the color of thunderheads and sparks flew from his hands, but Palutena and Pit had already left, the latter struggling to suppress a smirk.

"What nerve..." Elec Man grumbled and decided to leave the arena before he lost his temper.

* * *

"So what do you think?" Peach asked Zelda as Bass exited the trophy rush arena a few minutes later.

"He fights really well. I'll be honest; I'm not looking forward to fighting him and I pity whoever has to."

Meanwhile, Chrom, who had loitered in the back after passing by on his return to the mansion, slipped out of the room with a grim expression on his face and the bitter taste of defeat in his mouth. All he could do now was pray to Naga that Bass would not come after his family for landing him in trouble again.

* * *

Bass left the arena and headed over the sparring center to see if he could find someone to fight. Smashing crates and earning himself some coins had been satisfying and given him the opportunity to acquaint himself with his new moves, but it just wasn't the same as using them on another opponent, whether he won or not.

To his disappointment, only one of the trainers was present. But to his great surprise, he had agreed to spar with him, and been a decent opponent too.

"Nice work, Bass. You just finalized your moveset today?" Off the android's nod, the male Wii Fit Trainer looked impressed. "Well done, then. I'm certain that with practice, you'll certainly get a lot better if this is how you can perform with hardly any familiarity with your moves." Oh, he'd be practicing in that case. A lot.

* * *

 **One week later**

"And it is, at long last, time for the inaugural event of the season, a 4-team survival amongst the newcomers!" Master Hand's voice boomed throughout the arena as the various inhabitants of Smashverse cheered the start of the first event of the season. "As you are all aware, each team has two members, and each member has three stocks! Stock sharing is allowed!"

"Without further ado, join me in welcoming the first of our newcomers! From a world of classic medieval fantasy, where magic and the sword are the tools of war, please welcome the princess and chief tactician of the Halidom of Ylisse, Lucina and Robin!" The crowd clapped enthusiastically for the new representatives of _Fire Emblem_ , in particular Marth and Ike, as the duo entered the staging area, both of them looking rather apprehensive.

"Next up, they may be little, but they both pack a punch! Or should I say a tree? Anyway, Please welcome Little Mac and Villager!" More applause as the duo walked out, Villager wearing his omnipresent smile and Little Mac looking grim.

"And for our third team, since size doesn't matter, why should age? Give it up for two classic faces of gaming, Pac-Man and Duck Hunt!" The audience laughed at some of the duck and dog's antics while Pac-Man looked on in a mixture of amusement and disapproval.

"And lastly, from a world of fantastic science and technology, where even sentience itself has been replicated in binary, please welcome the super fighting robot himself, Mega Man, and his rival, Bass!" Both androids stepped out onto the field, Mega Man waving and Bass firing his buster in random directions.

"3..." The contestants went still, or at least the ones who were making noise did, and they were warped onto the stage.

"2..." Most of the partners exchanged looks. Mega Man gave Bass a reassuring smile that the latter returned with a wicked grin of anticipation. Rivals or not, Bass was willing to side with Mega Man if he could prove himself stronger in the process. And also, he had a wild card up his buster. Check that, about a hundred of them.

"1..." The contestants braced themselves for the battle against six other unknowns.

"May the best fighters win!"

* * *

 **Author's Note: So expect chapters of about this length from now on.**

 **Who would you like to see in upcoming matches against Bass, and who would you like to see as his teammates? Feel free to drop a suggestion and I promise I will try to accommodate it!**


	4. The Games Begin

**Author's Note: Whoops, I forgot to mention the stage for the opening match is Big Battlefield. Sorry!**

 **Also, I apologize if anyone was offended by how horrible my introduction lines were. That was the result of thinking over it for the better part of an hour; I think I'll just skip that from now on.**

* * *

Duck Hunt had started the battle by retreating away from where everyone was converging. Pac-Man, meanwhile, jumped to the topmost platform.

Lucina and Robin had both been horrified to discover they would be facing Bass, but apparently Chrom's appeal to Master Hand didn't work. He wasn't very interested in them at the moment (having been unpleasantly surprised by Villager's tree growing under him), but they knew how quickly that could change. So Lucina kept Little Mac at bay while Robin did what he did best: size up the bigger picture and plan accordingly.

Pac-Man jumped off the platform to drop his fire hydrant, and no sooner had he backed off than Mega Man came after him. Meanwhile the fire hydrant had fallen on Little Mac, who was knocked backwards just as another one of Villager's trees, meant for Bass, fell to the ground on top of him. Little Mac was thrown off the platform, but managed to recover. Lucina rushed past Robin to keep the boxer back while the latter fended off Villager with his magic.

Meanwhile, the Duck Hunt duo were sniggering as one of their cans exploded on Bass, eliciting a curse and a charge shot in return that they dodged. They were too busy laughing to notice Mega Man beneath them. The Blue Bomber's arms formed into electrodes, and a ball of electricity charged between them, catching the Duck Hunt duo squarely inside of it. Twenty-four thousand volts of electricity surged through each electrode, the power launching the duo up and into the retrieval zone. Instantly, they were restored to zero percent and dropped back in.

"And there's the first KO!" Master Hand announced. "Looks like Mega Man and Bass are showing no mercy!" He was proven right, for Bass launched Villager off the south side of the stage a moment later with a Napalm Bomb.

Meanwhile Little Mac was struggling against Lucina. Falchion had a much longer range than his fists, and even though she'd slowed down in favor of more powerful blows, he still couldn't get close. Fortunately, Pac-Man chose that moment to intervene, dropping another fire hydrant on Lucina. Robin tossed an Arcfire at Little Mac o protect Lucina as she was recovering her footing and jumped upwards to confront the camping Pac-Man.

Meanwhile, Duck Hunt had gone back to camping, this time on the other side of the arena. They were rudely interrupted as Villager crashed his Lloid Rocket into them. Their retaliatory can was Pocketed by the wily fighter, who tossed a plant pot at them before hiding behind another tree. Clueless as the pair could sometimes be, they knew full well the tree's power.

Mega Man, meanwhile, was trying to finish off Little Mac, though he was having a difficult time. The latter was dodging most of his powerful moves - not surprising given that they took time to execute - and landing solid hits in exchange. He also was not willing to come near the edge, which made things much more difficult. And then he got a breakthrough. Robin smacked Pac-Man down to the bottom level with his sword and launched a Thunder at Little Mac to keep him at bay while he finished off the former with his melee weapon. Little Mac shielded to block the Thunder, but then Lucina landed behind Mega Man with a Shield Breaker fully charged. Falchion speared through both him and Little Mac, shattering the latter's shield and stunning him. Mega Man rolled out of the way to dodge her next strike, but Little Mac caught the whole thing. Though he wasn't knocked into the retrieval zone, he wasn't able to recover and fell.

"Nice one," Mega Man commented as he began his battle with Lucina.

She smiled in response but didn't let up. Mega Man launched a Crash Bomber, and Lucina instinctively tried to push the explosive off of her, only to find it had burrowed deep into her armor. The distraction was enough for Mega Man to knock her off her feet with a slide, and the bomb exploded while she was airborne with no ability to shield. Thankfully, it didn't knock her too far away, and Robin was now attacking Mega Man as Bass had unceremoniously killed Pac-Man before heading for the melee on the other side of the stage. Villager, Duck Hunt, and the newly-respawned Little Mac and Pac-Man scattered as he approached.

"What have we here?" Master Hand commented. "Seems like nobody wants to go near our enigmatic friend in black there! Oho, we can't have that now!" But he didn't do anything yet. If things got too out of hand, he could always throw items in to the stage to mix it up, but the most entertaining matches were always the ones without them. But it was proven quite unnecessary as they all attacked Bass at once. He shielded the first onslaught, but it had left his shield dangerously close to breaking. Villager took advantage of the others' continued pressure to plant another tree.

And then Bass did something completely unexpected. His golden highlights changed to black and he dashed towards the tree. Villager swung the axe once, twice, then before he could chop the tree down wholly a holographic copy of Bass appeared under him and kicked him viciously skyward. Bass' highlights changed to orange and blue as he fired off two more Napalm Bombs at his surprised opponents, killing none of them but giving them all a nasty hit.

Villager wasn't knocked out by Bass' Copy Vision, but Robin finished the job. "Thoron!" he cried, sending a devastating blast of lighting towards him that pushed him into the north recovery zone. Mega Man dodged the Thoron and slammed Robin with a Mega Upper, while Little Mac landed a KO punch from behind.

"Wombo Combo! I'll say, the fighting robots are looking nigh-unstoppable right now!" Master Hand exclaimed as Robin was launched out of the stage.

Once more, he had spoken too soon, as Lucina grabbed Mega Man from behind and unceremoniously threw him off the stage, smashing him with an overhead swing of Falchion when he recovered with Rush Coil. Little Mac punched her from behind, knocking her off the stage too, but she jumped and grabbed the ledge. Lucina counterattacked with Falchion as she pulled herself up, knocking Little Mac off his feet just as Bass flew past him, his armor smoldering. Villager had succeeded in turning his weaponry against him when he Pocketed a Napalm Bomb.

Lucina jumped after him, determined not to let him recover. But instead of being knocked down and off the stage when she swiped downward with her blade, to her astonishment Bass seized Falchion, flipped himself over her, and stomped on her hard, all in the blink of an eye. Before she knew it, _she'd_ been knocked out and Bass had warped back onto the platform, changing his highlights from purple to their normal gold.

The crowd was split between cheering Bass' move and booing him for such a dirty trick, so Master Hand decided it was best to keep his opinions to himself. "Oh my! Bass is now up to 3 KOs with zero KOs of his own! That's something!"

"Are you alright?" Robin asked as Lucina dropped back down.

"I'm fine, I wish I knew what exactly happened there, though," she said through gritted teeth as she shielded to prevent herself from being hit by another one of Duck Hunt's blasted cans. That's it, he really needed to go. It seemed Mega Man had the same intentions, but while the duo dodged his charged shot with a smirk, they ran straight into Lucina's blade. She swung it upwards with all her strength as they got back up, KOing them again.

"Thanks Lu - agh!" Pac-Man, determined to avenge the loss of his teammate, ran into Mega Man before summoning two of his ghosts. Mega Man flew backwards, right into Villager's tree as he chopped it down on top of Bass. Having taken much more damage than Mega Man, Bass was knocked out. The Blue Bomber managed to grab the edge of the stage and pull himself up. Meanwhile Lucina charged towards Pac-Man, Falchion poised for a strike, but Pac-Man grabbed her and turned around, just as Mega Man's cannon spat a charged shot.

Lucina's eyes widened as she fought to break Pac-Man's grip, to no avail. The charge shot didn't even knock her off the stage and had also damaged Pac-Man, but it was annoying to be caught in such a stupid situation. Oh well, every fighter was down one stock now, and judging by the damage values she could see on the screen they were in a close contest for second place as Pac-Man was now beating up Mega Man.

Another five minutes in, however, and the gap to first had widened considerably. Though it had come down to just the _Fire Emblem_ and _Mega Man_ teams, both Lucina and Robin had taken considerable damage and lost a stock while Bass and Mega Man both had a second stock left, though Mega Man had taken heavy damage as well. For a moment, the two teams simply stared at each other, waiting for whoever would make the first move.

Bass did. His highlights changed to red and gray, and Lucina felt that powerful force tugging at her again. She wasn't prepared for it: Falchion was torn from her grasp and she lost her footing. Bass caught the sword and tossed it behind him, far out of her reach. _"No!"_

"Bass, give her weapon back! That's not fair!" Mega Man protested, as the stands erupted with jeers.

"Who cares?" he grunted noncommittally as he continued to pull her towards him. He didn't notice the Blue Bomber pointing his weapon at him.

"How would you feel if someone tore your arm off and asked you to fight them without it, huh? Give Lucina her sword back, or I'll blast you!"

Their voices were being magnified over the arena speakers, and immediately excited babble broke out, with Master Hand saying something he couldn't care less about over the noise. Bass relinquished his pull as Treble teleported in on top of Lucina, pinning her to the ground.

Then Robin saw it. A Smash Ball had spawned in next to him. So Master Hand had finally intervened. Good. Mega Man saw it and turned his weapon on Robin to stop him from getting it, but it was too late.

"Chrom!" Robin called. "Now's your chance!" Chrom emerged behind both Mega Man and Bass and slashed at both of them, causing Bass to drop Lucina. The pair viciously attacked the two androids before striking simultaneously, launching Mega Man to a KO and sending Bass off the edge, though he managed to recover. Lucina, meanwhile, had scrambled over to Falchion and retrieved it.

Bass, apparently, was in no mood to continue fighting. "What kind of bullshit is that, dropping a Smash Ball into a no-items match?" he snapped at the stands. His remark was met with more boos and hisses. "Whatever!" he shouted over the voices of the audience. "It just means they sucked so much that they were given one as a mercy!" A louder chorus of boos.

"Bass, just shut up and help me!" Mega Man was frantically dodged attacks from Robin and Lucina, his dodging and shielding leaving no window to counterattack.

"Argh, fine." He pulled himself up and launched back into the fray. Robin smashed him with his sword and jumped off the side to finish him with Elwind, but Bass whistled and Treble suddenly seized Robin in his jaws before flying upwards at top speed. His engine energy was quickly depleted by the dash, but he threw Robin upwards and into the recovery zone with the last of his energy before teleporting away.

"Robin!" Lucina cried as her teammate and husband was knocked out. Anger surged within her and she attacked Mega Man with renewed fury, hoping to finish him before Bass caught up. She was _not_ going to let this team of cheaters win, no matter how long the odds were.

But even sheer human will was no match for the forces of nature. Bass magnetized himself yet again, and Lucina stumbled. Mega Man's Mega Upper missed by a hair. In desperation she tried to throw Falchion at Mega Man to knock him out, but it simply flipped and spun backwards towards Bass, who caught it and tossed it away again.

"Bass...for the last time, that's against the rules to disarm opponents. You think I was kidding about shooting you if you did it again?"

"Fine by me." Bass let go of Lucina and his buster spat a charged shot out, blasting Mega Man off the stage. Bass dashed to the edge and dropped a pair of Napalm Bombs, but Mega Man avoided it by simply holding onto the edge without pulling himself up. "I don't really care what happens to you anyway, you sack of screws!"

Astonished at the turn of events, Lucina ran for her sword and tried to help the Blue Bomber. But she was too late. Bass fired a large mace at Mega Man, who dodged the attack, but Bass recalled the Knight Crush to him, and it struck Mega Man in the back. Bass followed up with a Tengu Blade that launched his own teammate off the stage and knocked him out.

"Team-killing? I don't think we've ever seen this strategy before!" Master Hand's tone was light, but no doubt he was furious right now. Yes, he definitely was, for another Smash Ball had spawned next to Lucina, who broke it and dashed foward, ready to knock Bass out with it.

Bass grinned. This was exactly what he'd hoped for. His golden highlights shifted to a greenish-brown and he fired a strange-looking projectile from his cannon. Lucina dodged it, but as it boomeranged back it struck her and knocked her down. To her astonishment, she could see Bass' damage value decrease by 2% on the screen. She quickly recovered and dashed forward to deliver the critical strike, but there was no devastating strike, even though Bass let himself get hit. _"Wh-What?!"_

She saw that the Final Smash aura was glowing around _him_ now. He'd stolen the Smash Ball from her!

"Treble!" Bass called. "Treble Boost!"

Treble teleported in again, but his body was changing shape this time. Bass jumped up to meet his wolf, and with a brilliant flash of light, their bodies fused and the combined form giving off copious amounts of some sort of green/purple energy. The fused Bass landed back on the ground and opened his eyes. They were now solid violet, as opposed to only having abnormally-colored irises.

 _"Oh Gods..."_ Lucina backed up, holding Falchion in front of her. Bass dashed towards her, but she noticed his movements were noticeably slower and clumsier now that the bulky Treble Boost was attached. His grab for her leg missed and she swiped down with Falchion, hoping to knock him down and deliver a finishing move. Instead, the blade sparked off his armor.

Bass' mocking laughter rang throughout the arena at the horrified expression on Lucina's face. "Go on, then! What will you do next? I can end this at any moment, but it's so much fun seeing you struggle like this."

He wasn't going to play by the rules. Now what? Lucina took a moment to think while Bass simply stood there, wearing an expression of mocking disdain. Cheating like him was always an option, but would it really be worth her dignity to win this? The answer was an obvious no: she couldn't bear to face Chrom and Robin again if she did, and she probably had more sympathizers than Bass did among the audience right now. She suddenly remembered that Treble Boost was a Final Smash, and that like all Final Smashes, it wouldn't last forever. She just had to delay him until it expired and then they could fight it out on fair, or at least more equal, terms.

"Why don't you end it then?" she taunted. "Or are you too slow?"

Violet flames ignited on the wings of his armor and he surged forward. Of course the damn thing had a flight function. Lucina ducked to avoid him, but his launched his fist after her. She ran for it, but the thing was glued to her trail and much faster. Eventually she ended up shielding it, but Bass was now airborne and aiming his buster at her in triumph. She noticed too late his body was the same shades of green and yellow that it had been yesterday. "Astro Crush!"

It was only one meteor instead of a whole storm, but it was enough. Lucina's weakened shield shattered under the impact and she was launched out of the stage.

* * *

The recovery drone took her outside the arena and deposited her along a hedge. And there she had remained hidden when Marth and Ike, then Chrom, and finally Robin and Morgan came by, calling her name.

It was only when Master Hand had come by and done the same that Lucina showed herself. When the others came over she acknowledged them with the faintest of greetings and didn't lift her gaze from the grass at her feet.

"Don't get down on yourself, Lucina," Master Hand said consolingly. "Bass was playing dirty. You did just fine for your first time."

Marth patted her shoulder. "Being defeated once doesn't make you any less worthy. I'm proud to recognize you as my descendant." Ike muttered his agreement.

Robin embraced her silently, and Morgan held her mother's hand. Sensing their desire for privacy, Master Hand gently shooed Marth and Ike away, leaving Lucina just with her family.

"Godsdammit!" Chrom shouted angrily to nobody in particular when Master Hand had disappeared, for once not concerned about swearing in front of a child. "I warned him! And now look what has happened!" He threw his Falchion on the ground in disgust.

Seeing her father so upset on account of her failure nearly made her cry in shame. Robin quickly put his arms around her and whispered some words of comfort. Chrom quickly picked up Falchion, sheathed it, and joined his son-in-law and granddaughter in comforting his daughter.

* * *

Bass waited until the arena was empty to leave. He didn't really care about the audience members' reaction to him, but he knew that Mega Man and his friends (or at the very least, that damned hedgehog) would be out for his oil, and he was in no shape for a serious fight.

He turned the corner to head back to the mansion when he noticed a group standing next to the hedge. Lucina and her family.

There it was again. That twinge of pity. And...something else. A sudden desire to apologize. Why was he feeling this way?

Treble gave a questioning whine as Bass continued to stand there, watching them. Bass shushed him, deep in thought.

 _"I...I've never felt this way about defeating others before. Why is it that every time it's her, things are different?"_ Well, it wasn't the act of defeating her so much as seeing the state he left her in. But all of this was supposedly impossible. Dr. Wily had omitted that coding from him; as the one who coded most of the Robot Master programming himself, he would have made sure of it.

 _"I can feel your justice energy, Bass. Don't deny it."_ Why were the words of the crazy space-voodoo robot Duo coming back to him now?

But maybe he was right. Apologizing, and apologizing sincerely, to Lucina for what happened seemed like the right thing to do - " _right thing to do?! What, are you Mega Man now for fuck's sake?!"_ But something within him was urging him to do it. No, it probably wasn't the right thing to do; she and her family would try to beat him up for rubbing it in, and he'd end up attacking them. More like what he felt like doing at the moment. And when he put it that way, it sounded a lot more inviting, to go rub it in their faces and beat them up further to prove his point.

Bass shook his head. Causing more trouble here would only ensure he was evicted.

"Bass!" a voice called. He snapped out of his reverie to see no fewer than a dozen Smashers standing behind him, lead by none other than Mega Man and Sonic. All of them had their weapons drawn.

* * *

 **Author's Note: This one was about half-written when I decided to trim down the previous chapter, in case anyone was wondering about the speed at which this was cranked out.**


	5. Aftermath

**Warning: Filler chapter ahead.**

* * *

"We're going to make you pay for what you did," Mega Man snapped in an uncharacteristically cold tone.

"Protip: if you want to live by a dimension's rules, don't piss off the creator/ruler, idiot," Dark Pit added.

Bass said nothing and looked over to where Lucina's family was. Robin and Chrom both had their weapons drawn and were shielding her and Morgan. Lucina looked like she was trying to be angry, but it didn't hide her fear completely.

"Really? No challenge statement, no sneer of arrogance?" Sonic taunted. "Lost your nerve now that you're finally the one who's on the short end of the stick?"

Bass sighed and began to walk down the street, away from all of them. Part of it was the fact that he was heavily outnumbered and in no shape to fight, but it was mostly after seeing the expression on Lucina's face. For some reason he felt that he didn't need or want to hurt her any more today. He knew how she was feeling. And as another warrior who rested on his pride, there was no greater insult than watching others take up your fight, so he chose to walk away instead of provoke anyone.

"Should we shoot him, Mega Man?" Samus asked as they watched Bass and Treble walk away.

"No. I don't know everything about him, but I'm pretty sure that's the look he has when something's really bothering or annoying him. And he has zero reason to be annoyed right now. He's brash, but not stupid; even in peak condition he wouldn't have tried to fight us. There's no way he could be annoyed over being outnumbered. Outgunned, maybe, but that's something else."

"Then we should break up before Master Hand thinks we're up to something," Link suggested. The others nodded their assent and, with the exception of Sonic, left Mega Man after saying their farewells and congratulations on the match.

* * *

"Well that was interesting," Morgan piped up.

"He only walked away because the others showed up. He's going to find a way to rub this in our faces once we're alone, mark my words," Chrom warned darkly. "I spoke to Mega Man's friend Elec Man during the match. He mentioned that Bass inherited his creator's talent for inflicting injury on others."

"Oh come on, he's going to do that over an exhibition match? What a sore winner," she grumbled.

"Bass won't see it that way, so we need to make sure he won't have the chance to act. Come, let's go back to the mansion."

* * *

Cold stares and scowls greeted Bass when he returned to the mansion grounds. He ignored it all; he'd been through far worse, and the nagging feeling of regret was tugging at his mind more forcefully than ever.

"Hey, watch it," King Dedede snapped as Bass almost ran into him. The latter uttered a quick apology before continuing on his way, leaving more than one Smasher in the vicinity thoroughly confused.

With nothing else to do, Bass sat himself down at the edge of the courtyard to run a self-diagnostic. Maybe he could find out just what the hell was wrong with him...

* * *

Master Hand sighed. Everyone was calling for Bass' suspension and/or eviction, and Chrom would no doubt be back to remind the creator of his promise. He had seen the incident outside the arena even though he wasn't physically present. That had changed things entirely, and not just because it validated Morgan's theory of what happened in the garden a week ago.

It meant that somewhere, under the coding that hard-wired him for death, destruction, and mayhem, Bass had a true personality. Trapped inside the digital prison of his own programming. That wouldn't have interested Master Hand so much if it hadn't been shown that the prison's walls were not impregnable.

"So you expect me to explain to Chrom that we will not be punishing Bass for this?" Crazy Hand demanded. "Sometimes I just don't get you."

"You don't need to explain anything to Chrom. Bass will not be participating in any other events this week. I said I would suspend him, and I have kept my word. I never said anything about a permanent suspension being mandatory."

"And since when were you the one defending him?"

"There is something more to his character than meets the senses. It is restrained, hidden behind whatever barriers his creator has inserted into his coding."

Crazy Hand said nothing more and went back to testing a new version of the hammer that was supposed to have the head break off after too many swings. Unfortunately he'd lost count of how many swings he'd taken before this conversation, so he simply threw the hammer down and grabbed another. The head of the first one promptly broke off.

"16, Crazy," Master Hand grumbled. "Next one."

* * *

Lucina wouldn't call her current emotional state upset, but she was still tense. One hand rested on Falchion's hilt while the other still held Morgan's firmly. The group had returned in silence, on the lookout for the slightest sign of trouble. Now that they were back, they were beginning to relax. Once they were inside there was no way Bass would dare cause any trouble with Master Hand and sympathetic Smashers close by.

"Pardon me, princess, but might I have a word with you?" Lucina's Falchion was already out of its sheath and swinging towards the speaker. The blade cut through Bass as though he were smoke. His image suddenly shimmered and reformed. A Copy Vision clone.

"What are you playing at, Bass?" Lucina growled. "Show yourself!"

"And you'll try to cut me down again. Perfectly normal given what happened, but rather inconvenient for everyone involved." Lucina tightened her grip on Falchion, ready to fight his magnetize ability to the death to keep her prized weapon. "I assure you that I have no intention to harm you or I would have already."

"I don't trust you! Show yourself!" Lucina demanded. Chrom and Robin tried to pull her along, but she shook them off. "Let go of me! This is too personal for any of you to get involved!"

And so he did. With a swish of fabric Bass' cloak deactivated. Lucina screamed in anger and slashed Falchion at that damned face. Bass' buster released four teal gems, but he kept it pointed at the ground. Falchion sparked off the synthetic crystals, but Lucina was not deterred. She took swipe after swipe at him, but the barrier threw forward a gem to block her every strike, which only served to incense her further. Robin and Chrom stared, torn between intervening before Bass decided to drop his charade and letting her take a much-deserved revenge on him. Morgan was trying to cause a distraction so that nobody would run to fetch Master Hand, but at the volume Lucina was screaming at the effort was utter futility.

"If you are done venting," he said after a while, "I have something to say to you."

"Oh sure you do! Probably just going to rub your victory in my face, aren't you? Tell me that you weren't even warmed up for that match? Or, let me guess, deliver some dire warning about going after my family next?" She punctuated each sentence with an attack, kicking Bass in the chest with the last one. He stumbled and fell backward; the Jewel Satellite fell to the ground.

Lucina stood over him, her face a mask of anger. His expression was unreadable, but he nodded at her.

* * *

 **Mega Man's Universe: Skull Castle**

Dr. Wily watched his prize creation submit himself to Lucina's beating willingly with amusement, his fingers lightly drumming the override switch.

When Lucina had been hacking at him for a full minute (and missing a decent number of times in her rage) and Wily started to get bored again, he flipped it and pulled a controller closer to him. Now it was time to have some real fun.

* * *

Mega Man saw Bass' body go rigid and his arm jerkily raise to block Falchion. He'd seen that before. When Dr. Wily had overridden King's free will after the latter refused to cooperate. This wasn't going to end well for anyone. He broke through the crowd and started running towards them.

Lucina's eyes widened in shock as Falchion slammed into Bass' outstretched fingers with no reaction whatsoever from the latter. Instead his fingers closed around the blade a death grip. That should have hurt a lot even if it wouldn't maim him any more, but his expression remained blank. Chrom and Robin both drew their weapons and started forward. Still sitting, Bass aimed his other arm, now a buster, at them as his highlights changed to green and white. Two Search Snakes flew from his cannon, the mechanical fiends latching onto the men's swords and chewing at them mercilessly. Robin's Levin Sword fell apart in seconds, and he hastily dropped the hilt to avoid having his hands shredded. Chrom's Falchion fared much better, but slivers of it were still flying off as he tried to shake the serpent.

"Down!" someone yelled, and Lucina was knocked to the ground as a third Search Snake barely missed her.

"Mega Man?"

"Lucina, listen to me! You and your family need to get out of here! I can deal with this!"

"It's my fight too, Mega Man!"

"You don't understand, he's being controlled! I'm the only one who knows anything about this! Now go!"

Lucina wanted to object, but Mega Man probably knew his rival better than her. So she used her weapon to cut the Search Snake off Chrom's Falchion and the three of them left, Morgan having already run off to find Master Hand.

"You meddling piece of junk! This isn't over yet, Mega brat!" Okay, definitely Dr. Wily speaking. Bass had always at least referred to him by his proper name.

To Mega Man's surprise, a rippling motion ran down Bass' body, as though he were made of water and someone had dropped a pebble on him.

"Ugh...what the hell?"

"Bass...since when did Dr. Wily install an IC chip bypass in your system?"

"What the heck are you talking about?"

"You started speaking like the old man. You remember how King's behavior changed once Wily 'brainwashed' him, right? And the IC chip bypass we found in his remains?"

"Yeah. It was like someone was doing a really shitty job of mimicking him."

"Well...that's how you were acting. And as blunt as you are, you're more mature than to call me taunts unworthy of a kindergartner. "

Bass digested the news in silence. "Well, thanks for bringing it up, I guess. I presume you know how to deal with it?"

"What? How should I know? Dr. Light never put one on me."

"Hey, don't pull the creator card. Not all of us are proud of them."

"Sorry, low blow. You have no memory of it whatsoever?"

"Nope. Must be working exactly like the old man intended it to in that case."

"I'll try to talk to Master Hand and see if we can't do something about it."

"Don't you dare! Bypass or no bypass, I'm not getting him involved in anything related to me!"

"Well then what do you suggest? Cutting it out? You know what can happen if we don't do that properly, and neither of us has the programming skills for that!"

"Well I'll be scrapped before I beg your old man for help."

"That's why I consider that option out. I guess you'll just have to hope Wily gets bored easily these days and flips the override off before you do something to get yourself in serious trouble. I can tell that not many people are going to believe your story, and you've already made enemies of the three that could support you."

"Hmph, isn't that always the case. Murphy's Fucking Law." Mega Man chuckled a little at that.

"Well, I have to get going. By the way, you'd better not fight unfair next time, for your sake if nobody else's. Because Master Hand suspended you for the rest of the week, and it's a month if you keep playing cheap."

Bass' eyes were murderous. "My fighting style is none of your business." Mega Man took that as his cue to leave.

* * *

The phone in Lucina's room rang. Morgan, having proven the fastest at adapting to these new technologies, picked up. "Hello?"

"Morgan? Is your mother there?"

"Not at the moment. Why?" her voice became a lot more suspicious. "And who is this?" When there was no answer, she put the phone back on the hook.

"Who was it, dear?" Lucina called from the bathroom.

"I dunno, but it was a guy I couldn't recognize. Probably some creeper from the town, 'cause he asked to speak to you."

Lucina sighed and walked over to Morgan. "And I thought being married would have put a stop to that. Take care of yourself, alright? Your grandfather will take you down to dinner later."

Morgan rolled her eyes. "Mother, I'm nearly as old as you. I'll be fine! Although thanks for having grandfather accompany me to dinner; I get to hear all those interesting stories about you two on the way down!"

Lucina turned a little red but laughed with her daughter. She took a replica of her mask, courtesy of Master Hand, and placed it over her face before heading for the training center. Robin would already be waiting for here there.

She had just exited the mansion gates when she saw Bass further down the sidewalk, in the direction she was headed. She prayed he wouldn't notice her and walked a little faster.

Bass chuckled as she strode past. "I assure you I don't mean any harm this time, Lucina." Lucina gave no indication that she'd heard her name and kept walking, Bass following behind her. She was about to enter the training center when he put his hand on her shoulder.

"Do yourself a favor, and get a better disguise than the same mask that's listed as yours in the archives. While you're at it, trying practicing keeping your cool so you don't walk like someone shoved a ramrod down your armor, Lucina."

"What do you want?" She didn't turn to face him or remove her mask, and one hand was on Falchion.

"Look, I...I want to apologize for earlier."

"For playing unfair, or for attacking me and my family yet again?"

He paused. "Both, I guess. I'm sorry about rubbing it in your face."

"Care to enlighten me what 'it' is?"

"Well, we had the advantage there, so - "

"So 'it' is the fact that you would have won? Excuse me, but you seriously need a lesson on proper communication and etiquette."

"Do I look like I was built for social interaction of any sort?"

"Not my problem," Lucina replied coldly. "Apology accepted, but you might want to work on your delivery, and stop being so defensive if you want people to listen." She stepped inside the training center without another word. Bass sighed and headed further down the street to the practice arenas.

* * *

Inside, Robin was sparring with Mega Man in one room, while Chrom was practicing against Link. As she watched, Robin struck the Blue Bomber with his practice sword, knocking him off his feet. Mega Man kicked in a circle around him before pushing himself up, forcing Robin to back off. Mega Man's body turned peach and gray and he dashed forward before spinning, striking Robin multiple times. He dodged Robin's retaliatory swipe and his body changed colors again as he swiped down with Flame Sword. Robin rolled backwards away from the attack before advancing. Mega Man blocked his first swipe and struck him from behind with the Mega Upper.

"Training session complete!" Master Hand's pre-recorded voice said, and both of them waited while they were restored to zero damage before exiting, Mega Man shaking his opponent's hand.

"Hey there, Lucina! Need a sparring partner?" Mega Man offered.

"I'm sorry, Mega Man. I promised I would help Robin train earlier."

"Oh, alright then, see you." He waved and walked out.

"Is something troubling you?" Robin asked as he watched Mega Man leave.

"No - Well, yes. I don't understand why Bass is following me around."

"So that's why you're wearing that mask again. What did he do this time?" Robin's eyes narrowed.

"Nothing to harm me or even try, which is what troubles me. He wanted to apologize."

"He is up to something," Robin mused. "Though I can't predict his intentions with any certainty. Listen, Lucina - " he lowered his voice " - what exactly happened in the garden a week ago?"

She was glad the mask was mostly hiding her blush. "How much did Morgan tell you?"

"Other than you and her running into Bass and her going to find help, nothing."

Her blush deepened. Naga, this was going to be embarrassing to explain. "She decided to eavesdrop on my conversation with Mega Man," Lucina began slowly. "You know how she likes gossip and starting it."

"Oh? And so she ran off laughing about how you two were supposedly cheating on me? Typical of her. Anyways, I presume you two ran into Bass afterwards?" Her mask hid most of her face, but it was rather apparent that she was caught off guard. "...Er, Lucina, why are you gawking at me?"

"I-I guess I didn't expect you to take it so lightly."

"Come now, I have more trust by far in your fidelity than in Morgan's word - oof!" Robin grunted as Lucina hugged him tightly.

Chrom gave an ill-disguised cough behind them. Link and the others in the center looked as though they had been at their tasks for a while, but it could not be plainer that they had been watching them too. Lucina promptly turned red before clearing her throat and continuing.

* * *

Bass put more coins into the machine and re-entered the Trophy Rush arena. He should be training, but with the Ylisseans in there it would be unbearably awkward for all of them, so he was back to breaking crates. He had to admit, it was a rather nice way to relieve stress without beating other people up.

And then it happened again. Bass went rigid and his expression became blank, his crystals and eyes emblazoned with Wily's mark as Master Hand's voice counted down to the start of the Trophy Rush.

He was Bass Wily. A Wily before all else. His posture became rigid, and he stood at attention, ready for his orders. His creator had the reins now.

* * *

A few minutes later, Wily set his controller down and flipped off the override, satisfied with his performance in the Trophy Rush. True, Bass had done better under his own control, but so what? It was much more fun for him to micromanage than simply monitoring his robots and issuing orders. Why didn't he think of this before?


	6. Omens, Bad and Good

**Author's Note: Unless I get a huge brainwave, this will be either the last or second-to-last chapter for the next three weeks as exams are coming up.**

* * *

The rest of the first week had passed with no trouble from Bass, though mostly it was because he spent his time in the training center instead of socializing. In fact, besides Mega Man and Treble, he didn't talk to anyone at all.

Master Hand and the others had noticed, however, that Mega Man was spending more time alone with his rival. No harm had come of those situations yet, but it was making the other Smashers rather suspicious.

"Hey," Mega Man greeted as he approached his rival at their predetermined meeting spot, deep inside the mansion garden.

Bass quickly scanned the vicinity with thermal vision. "Nobody's eavesdropping."

"You don't have to just confide about this in me, you know."

"You wouldn't understand what it's like to be distrusted all around. And if that's the way they feel about me, fine. It's not my position to tell them what to think of me."

"You could always try to make amends," Mega Man sighed exasperatedly.

"That's not who I am."

"You also said it wasn't possible that we could be on the same side, but we are now."

"That's because one, this tournament is a chance to prove myself, and two, my old man is trying to do my job for me. I can do it just fine myself."

"Er, what job?"

"Destroying you, obviously."

"…Oh. Right. Of course you can do a good job of that."

"Bite me. He hasn't done any better."

Mega Man sighed. "Anyway, I've been looking over your system blueprints and it's pretty clear that the IC chip bypass can't be cut out without crashing your whole operating system; nearly every function relies on feedback from that module in order to execute commands. Wily knew what he was doing. We're going to have to pretty much rewrite your programming if we go about it that way."

"So that's what those 'adjustments' from a few years ago entailed."

"Well, why didn't he use it when you turned against him during the Roboenza outbreak?"

"You idiot, if he was supposedly working with Dr. Light to cure Roboenza, why would his own creation be helping the infected robots? He let me go after his junk bots because it helped him stay inconspicuous. And he was already having to deal with you by the time I arrived." Suddenly he stood and armed his weapon. "We're not alone."

Bass walked over to a bush and plunged his hand into it, eliciting a squeal. "And what do you think _you're_ doing here, Morgan?"

"Um, listening?"

"This doesn't concern you, and is about stuff that is way above your primitive mind."

"Morgan?" a distant voice called. Bass quickly dropped Morgan and backed away.

"Let's get out of here before Lucina thinks we're mugging her kid or something. We can continue this somewhere else."

 _"Why Lucina of all of Morgan's relatives present?"_ Mega Man thought, but he followed. _"And I'm pretty sure that was Robin calling."_

* * *

"Well, Master Hand, the week-long suspension has expired. What assurances can you give me that Bass learned his lesson?"

"Father, I've told you, there's no need for you to be involved!"

"You should listen to your daughter more often, Chrom. And I am quite tired of your pestering. If I see you in here again, I will throw you out. First time, from my sight, next, from the tournament. For the last time, though not completely without risk to others, the situation is under control."

"Then why isn't it completely risk-free to others?"

"Chrom, this is your last warning!"

"Father!" Lucina pleaded, but Chrom ignored her.

"What is wrong with explicitly saying – "

"SILENCE!" Master Hand bellowed, raising himself, and Chrom hastily backed out before the god could slap him out the door. Lucina made to follow, but lost her footing and fell, much to her embarrassment. Master Hand, meanwhile, hadn't changed his posture, so Lucina figured it was a good time to apologize otherwise he might smack her instead.

"Um...I'm sorry about my father's behavior."

"He's the protective type, I'm sure. I was in that position once, before I learned that some things are better left to themselves. But that does not excuse my loss of temper. Give Chrom my apologies; though I regret yelling at him, I was quite serious about not wanting to see him in my presence. You should get some sleep before your match tomorrow, Lucina."

The princess thanked him and left. Master Hand sighed, his thoughts already elsewhere. The bracket of one-on-one tournament was made by Crazy's random generator, and the identity of each opponent concealed, so as to truly judge the strength and cunning of each combatant. Crazy's idea, obviously; his brother had even decided to conceal it from Master Hand himself. Not that the deity didn't mind a little pleasant surprise now and then, but he had a feeling Crazy's generator wasn't as random as its name implied.

* * *

"Father, guess what I overheard just now?"

"Morgan, how many times do your mother and I have to remind you that it is not polite to eavesdrop?"

"You said you wanted to know what Bass was up to – "

"Wait, you were eavesdropping on your parents? Why am I not surprised?"

"I'm only a few years younger than mother! I'm old enough to be involved in a matter like my own safety! Besides, it's always important to gather intelligence!"

"Young lady, you will not talk to your father like that! And that doesn't change the fact that eavesdropping is rude and intrusive!" Though Robin privately agreed with her, Lucina and Chrom would likely get themselves in over their heads if something happened to Morgan. And so to protect them both, he sided with his wife. That didn't mean there wasn't something to be gained from this, though. He sighed. "Well, since you've already gone through the trouble and risk, it would be a shame to waste it now. What did you hear, Morgan?"

Lucina and Chrom joined them while Morgan recalled what she'd overheard Bass and Mega Man talking about.

"It changes nothing," Chrom snapped dismissively once his granddaughter finished. "He is dangerous, override or no."

"It could be subtly influencing his behavior even when he's not under its control," Robin suggested. "No form of control is black-and-white."

Nobody needed reminder of why Robin knew that. "But what are we supposed to do about it?" Lucina asked. "We did not even know such technology existed prior to coming here, let alone how to manipulate it."

"I dunno, but you guys wanted to know what Bass was up to. At this point it's your problem now that you have the information."

"Morgan!" the three adults yelled at the same time.

"What? Father said I shouldn't be involved, didn't you?"

Before Robin could reply, Chrom intervened. "Young lady, I think it's time you receive a long-overdue lesson in proper etiquette for one who bears the the Brand of the Exalt." He grabbed Morgan and frog-marched her away, to Lucina and Robin's amusement.

"Yes, grandfather."

"Do not call me that!"

"But you are one!" Lucina and Robin were doubled over with suppressed laughter by this point. "Well, great-grandfather soon." Their laughter stopped abruptly and they stared at each other in horror.

"WHAT?!" There was the sound of someone hitting the floor. Robin and Lucina immediately ran over to Chrom, who was lying on the ground in shock.

"…Oops. I don't think he got that I was joking," Morgan sighed. "Looks like that lesson isn't happening today," she added cheerfully, laughing despite the exasperated looks on her parents' faces while the three of them picked up the unconscious Chrom and carried him back to his room.

* * *

"So what do you think of what Morgan said?" Robin asked his wife once they'd brought Chrom to his room and his wife had taken him in. Morgan herself had already run off on some new adventure.

"I'm not sure. It's too outlandish even for her to make up, and I know she has no reason to since it concerns her own safety, but I still have my doubts."

"Having a hard time believing that Bass isn't all that we perceived him to be as well?"

She nodded. "And even then, what are we supposed to do? What can we do?"

"I don't know either, Lucina. But at the very least it explains why we thought he was behaving oddly. What we perceived to be his normal behavior wasn't a true reflection of his personality in the first place."

"What? How could you possibly believe that his recent pleasantries aren't simply part of some scheme?"

"Did you not hear what I said before Chrom took Morgan away? If that override has existed, then there is a strong possibility it has influenced his actions whether it was activated or not. Such forms of dominance always have side effects."

"How can you be so certain of that? This doesn't work by magic, like your father's hold over you did! Bass is not human, Robin!"

Robin tensed at the mention of Validar, clenching his fists underneath the sleeves of his robe. "And yet, his programming is designed to mimic one. There must be some similarities in how they function."

Lucina was becoming frustrated. "Why are you so determined to see good in him because of one similar characteristic? Have you forgotten what he's done to us?"

Robin's anger, hot and viscous as magma, finally broke. Of all people, he would've thought Lucina would understand. "You're treating this matter as if it were some petty childhood grudge, Lucina! I am not happy with what he did to you either, but you are being ungrateful! He healed you after he hurt you, and he also apologized for treating us unfairly in the match when he had zero need to!"

Lucina opened her mouth, but Robin didn't give her an opening. "And maybe I can sympathize with him and see parallels between us because the symptoms are the exact same! Have you already forgotten that _I_ was the one meant host Grima? That Validar could control me in the same manner that Dr. Wily can control Bass? That I also watched my body act of its own accord, near-powerless to stop it?! Do not forget that your father died because of that in at least one timeline!"

Lucina looked as though he'd just stabbed her with his Levin Sword. Robin could see tears in her eyes. "I-dammit. Forgive me, my dear. I shouldn't have lost my temper."

"I-It's fine. I didn't expect either of us yelling at each other to hurt that much," she admitted. "I think that's the first real argument we've had since we were married." Robin took her hand in his, looking into her eyes for permission to get closer. To his relief, she was willing to, and he gently pulled her into a hug, wiping away her tears. As strong as she was, he reminded himself, she was only a teenager. He made a note to be more moderate in his words, and not bring up anything related to their pasts; that was a particularly low blow, especially since she was the one that had suffered in lonely silence in the months between Grima's defeat and his return. Unable to disclose her feelings to anyone because of the clandestine nature of their relationship, while denied the right to even live it as it was.

"I'll make it up to you," he promised. She said nothing and snuggled deeper into his embrace. He stroked her hair patiently and continued to hold her.

Of course Chrom chose that moment to emerge from his room, though it looked like he was trying to shake his wife. "Would it be too much to ask of you two to do this somewhere besides in front of me constantly?" He sighed with exasperation.

"Apologies, Chrom," Robin said and slowly released his grip on Lucina. The two started down the hallway, but unfortunately Chrom had noticed Lucina crying.

"Robin, what did I tell you?" There was a dangerous edge to his voice.

 _"Oh Gods no…"_

"You make her cry, I make _you_ cry, remember? You thought I was joking?" He drew his Falchion.

"Father, could we speak for a minute?" Lucina left his side and exchanged some words with Chrom, whose expression steadily lost its hardness. Finally, she returned to Robin while Chrom sheathed his weapon.

"I will let you off the hook this time because you made up with her and she stood by you. But if I ever find Lucina crying on your account again…"

"It won't happen," Robin promised quickly.

"It had better not. I don't think Falchion will be the same after the beating I'm saving for that occasion. I'll keep Morgan away from your rooms." Chrom winked at his friend as he left. Robin and Lucina exchanged a look of incredulity while Chrom walked down the hall.

"Seems he might be finally coming to terms with this relationship," Robin mused.

"Well, I suppose that can only be a good – Robin!" She was met with only a grin as her husband lifted her off her feet and carried them into his room.

* * *

Morgan traipsed back to the room she shared with her mother, satisfied she'd given Chrom the slip. She stopped at the entrance to her room when she heard some voices making strange sounds from Robin's room, next to hers.

As she got closer, she could make out her mother's voice. Curiosity got the better of her and she put her ear against the door of Robin's room, only to immediately back away, greatly disturbed.

A chuckle behind her made her jump. "Really? Spying on your parents at a moment like this, Morgan? What would your grandfather say?" Bass asked.

"What makes you think he'd believe you?"

Bass didn't answer, but stared at her with his head tilted slightly to one side. Morgan took this as her cue to leave, but Bass grabbed her robe. "Tsk, tsk, I don't think so, young lady." Morgan struggled furiously, but Bass' grip was too strong.

Chrom suddenly turned the corner and froze before drawing Falchion. "Oh no you don't!"

Bass released Morgan, who started to run before Chrom fixed her with a glare and she returned to his side meekly. "Chrom, put your weapon away. I have no quarrel with you."

"Hard to believe when you are standing right in front of our rooms with Morgan in your grip."

"People pass through this corridor on their way to other places. And I figured you would be looking for her, otherwise she wouldn't be alone."

"You were trying to help me? Do not take me for gullible fool!"

Bass raised his hands. "I have nothing more to say that could convince you if you will be so stubborn. If you will excuse me - " He turned to leave.

"You are not going anywhere until I get an explanation!" Chrom slashed Falchion inches from Bass' face to emphasize his point.

He sighed. "Fine. I stopped your daughter from barging in on her parents. I don't think I need to go into specifics."

"If I had time or patience to interrogate you properly..." Chrom growled, but he simply watched as the robot left. Chrom turned to his granddaughter. "Now then, since we have some time together, why don't we get to that manners lesson?" His expression was so livid that for once she didn't protest.

* * *

Bass ventured further down the corridor before knocking on Mega Man's door. Despite his denials, the Blue Bomber had turned to Dr. Light for help, and while that incensed him enough to break the door down, unannounced intrusion wouldn't solve his bigger problem.

"...gimme a sec," he heard Mega Man's voice a second before the door opened. "Ah, there you are, Bass."

"Let's just get this over with," he growled. "I still don't like you or your old man."

Mega Man sighed and gestured to another chair. Bass sat down in it and immediately Elec Man attached cuffs to it. "Sorry pal, but we don't like you either. Move a servo and I'm zapping those with Thunder Beam."

Great. Just fucking wonderful. As if he didn't need to stoop low enough already to get rid of this damn IC chip bypass.

* * *

Wily pounded the console in frustration. He'd been monitoring other things during Bass' exchange with Chrom and Morgan and had missed out on that golden opportunity to royally screw up Bass' reputation, and now that Elec Man had his creation at gunpoint he couldn't do anything unless he wanted to end it now.

Groaning in disgust at the scene in front of him, Wily shut the monitor off and decided now would be a good time to keep working on his project. Well, projects, now. He opened up a file on one of his computers and began typing in code furiously, pausing only to correct syntax, his raging emotions driving him to work harder.

He did take the smallest consolation from the fact that Bass was probably not enjoying this either. But trying to use that to push down his jealousy and hatred was like using an eyedropper to fight a forest fire. He vowed to keep an eye on Bass 24/7 from now on; this had gotten quite far enough. He would not be beaten by that goody-two-shoes Light and his pet copycat again.


	7. Breaking Point

**Author's Note: Just because, the fighters here are capable of using all their custom moves in the same match. I might go back and revise the opening tournament fight scene to accommodate that at some point.**

* * *

"Greetings, contestants, and welcome to the first tournament of the ranked matches series!" Master Hand announced. "As usual, Crazy here has been kind enough to draw up the bracket for me with his random match generator, and your opponents' name has been kept clandestine until now! For once, even I don't know it."

Lucina glanced around nervously at her fellow Smashers. Many of the veterans wore a mixture of determination or grim apprehension, while some of her fellow newcomers were looking as nervous as she felt. To her surprise, even Bass wasn't smirking for once; his expression was blank.

"And now - !" Master Hand waved himself and the bracket materialized out of thin air. "The first round starts in thirty minutes! Locations are listed next to each pair! Good luck, and may the best fighters win!"

"Hm, well time to see if that sparring with Link paid off," Robin mused beside his wife. "Who did you draw, Lucina? Erm, Lucina?" For she had gone ashen next to him.

"Oh, Naga no," he groaned as he saw it too. Chrom, meanwhile, was visibly struggling with an urge to cut something in half, and Morgan had her face buried in her hands. "Well, there's nothing you can do about it now. Besides, Bass will have to play fair to stay in." He tried to force some encouragement into his words.

"I'm more worried about that override coming into effect now than anything else," Morgan said, her voice muffled but still intelligible.

"Morgan, you're not helping," said Lucina faintly.

"Sorry, mother." She took Lucina's hand in both of hers. "Regardless of what happens though, you're still the best swordfighter I've ever seen and the best mother I could have hoped for."

"So your grandfather gave you that lesson on manners after all, huh?"

"Yes, I did, now enough with that title already!"

Robin looked like he might laugh for a second before turning away. "I need to be going, my arena is on the other side of the village." Robin quickly left, and Chrom remembered that he had to follow a second later.

"Good luck, father!" Morgan called. "It's time for us to go, mother. I'll be there for you." Lucina tenderly embraced her daughter and headed for the arena, determined to face whatever would befall her with dignity.

* * *

"Well, this might go badly," Mega Man surmised as he and Bass walked towards their arenas, which were right next to each other. However unusual it felt to be talking to his rival as though he were a friend, Bass had to admit Mega Man was much easier to get along with than beat in a fight. Plus, with all the time they'd spent together trying to work out a solution to the bypass, it was just wrong not to respect his contributions. Not "justice" wrong, per se, but robots always held some level of respect for each other as members of the same kind that suffered the same struggles.

"That system must be rigged or something. Not that I'd ever back down from a fight, but hasn't Lucina been thrown around enough by me already? I can't be the only one who's complaining about that, and besides, I'm thinking my old man is going out of his way to make her life in particular miserable."

The Blue Bomber raised his eyebrows. "And since when did you care about how stacked the odds were in your favor?"

"None of your business."

"Moving on, then. Since I'm fighting Ike and you're up against Lucina, we're probably going to have matches on the easier side first, but we're facing each other next. See you there?" Mega Man held out his hand, a smile on his face.

"It's on," Bass replied while returning the handshake, his familiar grin of anticipation returning for the first time in a week.

* * *

"3...2...1...May the best fighter win!" Master Hand was commentating Lucina's match, probably for the sake of making sure Bass didn't cheat.

Lucina stood in a defensive posture, waiting for Bass to make the first move. Falchion was locked in a death grip in case he tried to steal it from her.

To her surprise, Bass surrounded himself with energy and dashed at her with blinding speed. She sidestepped him and swiped Falchion across his legs, knocking him down. As he recovered he fired a fiery wave of energy on the ground. Lucina jumped to avoid the Pharaoh Wave, but to her surprise it grew in height as it approached and knocked her backwards. Bass fired a Knight Crush at her, which she avoided before pressing her attack. She landed two hits before Bass recalled the weapon. As the Knight Crush rebounded towards them, Bass grabbed her and threw her into it, using the opportunity to fire off a Magic Card at her.

Lucina jumped over it and brought Falchion down in a devastating overhead blow. Bass slid backwards on one knee, blasting her with a charged shot as she approached. Her shield absorbed the blast and she seized Bass by his cloak, dodging his own grab in the process. She tossed him skyward before swinging Falchion in an overhead slash with all her strength. To her relief, it was enough to KO.

Her relief was short-lived, however, when Bass dropped back down onto the stage and dashed at her again. This time, her swipe missed and he kicked her upwards into his Copy Vision clone, which nearly doubled her already-impressive momentum and launched her out of the stage too.

"And the odds are even again! Looks like Lucina will have to be a little more cautious!" Master Hand's voice boomed. "Yes, Bass is certainly stepping up his game!"

For the black-and-gold robot had switched his highlights to red and gray again before dashing at Lucina. She sidestepped it, but immediately he magnetized her armor, causing her to lose her footing and fall. Falchion spun from her hand.

 _"No, no, no, not again!"_ But to her astonishment, he shut off his magnet as soon as he caught the sword and let Lucina regain her footing, making sure she was facing him, before tossing it to her with a small smile. She almost missed the catch out of shock, but put it aside as he raised his arm cannon and fired a Remote Mine from it. Lucina shielded and the mine immediately exploded on her shield, doing no damage. Bass backflipped away from her and launched a Thunder Beam. The deadly bolt of electricity caught Lucina off guard, and she winced as the long beam continually zapped her. Bass tried to grab her as she finally stood once the beam had passed, but she rolled under him and slashed him from behind. Another grab and overhead swing followed, but this time it wasn't enough to KO.

Bass surrounded himself with a ring of flames as he pulled himself up, and threw the Scorch Wheel at Lucina, who jumped over it and the Pharaoh Wave that followed. Bass jumped to intercept her and his highlights flashed purple. Quick as a flash, he struck Lucina three times before doing a backflip and kicking her hard, sending her flying across the stage. Lucina grabbed the ledge and pulled herself up, dodging Bass' Napalm Bombs, and slashed at him with a strong overhead blow that sent him as far back as he had just sent her. She wound up for another crushing blow with Falchion as he dashed towards her, which connected with a satisfying sound and launched him off the edge again, just at the edge of the retrieval zone. But Bass had one more trick up his buster. He whistled and Treble grabbed him before launching him back onto the stage. Unfortunately, he'd underestimated the effect of the move's self-damage, as it launched him straight into Lucina's blade, which knocked him out of the arena for good.

When he dropped back down, however, she noticed an alarming change. His face was no longer determined but blank, and...were his eyes missing? No, but some symbol had replaced them. The momentary distraction was enough for him to throw another Scorch Wheel, which knocked her off the side. A second before her Dolphin Slash carried her back to the ledge, however, a Napalm Bomb dropped off of it and blasted her into the retrieval zone.

"Oh dear, it looks like Bass might be resorting to trickery again!" Master Hand called. "This will be interesting!"

Bass welcomed her back by magnetizing her again, though this time Lucina managed to keep a grip on her sword. It didn't do her any good as Bass repeatedly punched her face with his free hand before throwing her to Treble, who clamped onto her leg and rushed towards the ceiling at breakneck speed. Lucina barely managed to avoid being knocked out again by breaking free of the wolf's jaws prematurely. Bass slashed at her with Tengu Blade, and while she dodged the slash, the projectile it created struck her and knocked her to the ground.

Bass dashed over and aimed both of his busters down, his highlights changing to orange and blue. Lucina cringed. This was it.

But he didn't launch the Napalm Bombs. Instead, he was grasping his head as though in pain.

Lucina warily scooted away from him before scrambling back to her feet, but he did not attack. "A-Are you - " she gasped in surprise and threw herself flat on the ground as a charged shot zoomed over her head. Bass dropped to his knees as a ripple ran through his body.

"Nngh - !" a Search Snake spat from his buster, but it was aimed wildly and nowhere near Lucina. "Augh - !" His busters dropped Napalm Bombs, but they weren't aimed particularly well if at anything at all. "Gaah - !" Bass convulsed violently and threw a Knight Crush that Lucina barely managed to avoid, followed by a Magic Card, charged shot, Remote Mine, more Search Snakes, a Spread Drill, and a Thunder Beam. Lucina managed to avoid all but the tail end of the Thunder Beam, which zapped her painfully.

"Lucina - !" Bass gave a strangled gasp. " - End it...now!" Before she could close the distance, however, his body jerked violently again and a Search Snake clamped onto Falchion. While the sword's blade held up well to its razor teeth, it was only a matter of time before it sank its fangs into the hilt, which wasn't enchanted against it. There was no time to lose.

Lucina swung her weapon as soon as she was within range. Bass did a jerky backflip to regain his footing and kicked out at Lucina, a Copy Vision clone doing the same a millisecond later. Fortunately, his unsteady movements meant she had time to dodge, and the clone's kick had only scratched the side of her head. She brought Falchion down, but a second before the blade connected Bass erected a crystal barrier around himself, causing Falchion to spark off harmlessly. He suddenly stumbled backwards off the edge, but grabbed it at the last second, his body almost constantly jerking and rippling now. As if in great pain, he slowly pulled himself back onto the stage.

"Lucina...please - !" She backed quickly away from him lest he counterattack suddenly. He didn't deserve this mercy. Not after what he'd done to her, what he'd put her through. No, she would let him struggle for a few more moments before finally defeating him, toy with his fate like he had with hers before finally ending it, and savor her victory, taunt him with it.

She blinked. This wasn't like her, or befitting of her heritage. Still, it wouldn't hurt to let him have a taste of his own medicine...Lucina yelped as the Search Snake suddenly abandoned her sword in favor of her armor. She desperately tried to pry the mechanical serpent off of her, and made the mistake of trying to pry its jaws open with her left hand. She cried out in agony as it sank its fangs into it, the gloves she was wearing doing little to mitigate the pain.

A burst of pellets suddenly zoomed past her, blasting the snake off. Bass was lying on the ground, but his aim had been flawless. Lucina opened her mouth to thank him when he let loose a horrible scream, energy enveloping his body, his eyes wide. He regained enough self-control long enough to gasp one last warning.

"Lucina...ngh...he's triggered...ugh...my...self-destruct...go! A-All of you! Run!"

Bass was now doubled over, grabbing his chest crystal in a death grip. He had stopped radiating energy, but his body was starting to glow dimly.

Lucina stood for another half-second. And then she started forward. She knew what to do. Master Hand had already left the commentator box and was waiting in one of the retrieval zones. All she had to do was get Bass to him.

Statistically, it was impossible. He was at only 23%. Even her strongest move couldn't KO somebody as heavy as him at that percentage.

 _"It does not matter. I will do what I must, for I cannot fail!"_ Lucina prayed to Naga for strength and wound up Falchion. When she released it, determination, not vengeance, backed the mighty blow that knocked Bass out, and straight into Master Hand's palm. The god's hand closed around Bass, and a bright light issued from within his grasp.

* * *

Dr. Wily dove for cover as his monitors went blank for a second before every electronic device emitted a violent burst of energy.

Crawling up from the floor of the ruined laboratory a few minutes later and satisfied that nothing was broken, he examined the wreckage. Most of it was unusable, as expected in the aftermath of an overload. Even the laptop that he'd kept isolated from everything else was acting up, thought it appeared to be functioning. Once it had started to respond to his commands again, he tried locating Bass to find out what happened.

 **Error: Signature Match not Found**

Wily repeated the command three more times with the same result. Satisfied, he powered off the laptop and left to find somewhere more hospitable to continue his plotting and projects. His greatest creation to date and biggest headache was out of the way at last.

* * *

"That's the end of him, one way or another. Nice job, Lucina," Robin complemented as she joined him, Chrom, and Morgan at a table with her meal. Even though both of them were advancing, the next round of the tournament had been postponed until tomorrow.

"He's not dead."

"Ooh, if it isn't the other cheater," Morgan jeered. Robin fixed her with a look and she fell silent while Lucina blushed ever so slightly.

Ignoring her daughter's remark, Lucina asked, "What do you mean, Mega Man? And what are you doing here?"

"Master Hand stopped Bass' self-destruct. I don't know where he and Crazy took Bass afterwards, but he's not dead for sure. Anyway, Master Hand is trying to verify what I told him about the override; he wants your account of what just happened." They all stood, but Mega Man held his hand up. "No, no, he only wants to see you, Lucina. He's trying to keep this trouble with Bass as low-key as possible."

"Are you sure it's just that that needs to be kept low-key?" Morgan remarked snidely.

"Morgan, enough," Lucina ordered.

"Denial!" Morgan fell out of her chair with laughter.

"Morgan, I would have thought you knew better than to make fun of than your own mother in public! Enough is enough! Go to your room, now!" Robin barked. Morgan tried to say something, but her father beat her to it. "Not! Another! Word! Out!" His daughter obeyed, though she was still smirking with satisfaction.

"...That wasn't amusing in the slightest," Mega Man grumbled. "Back to business; we should probably go."

* * *

"Ah, Lucina. Thank you for being so prompt. Now then, I saw most of what happened in your match against Bass, but I want to make sure I covered everything. If you will, please recount the match."

"Pardon me, Master Hand - "

"Yes, yes, we discussed this already," the deity grumbled in annoyance. "You can go take care of that other business while I talk to Lucina, Mega Man."

Morgan had her ear pressed to the door and grunted in pain as Mega Man slammed it against the wall. The Blue Bomber heard the noise and turned around.

"Why am I not surprised to see you here?" She didn't say anything. "Look, I don't have time for you to come up with some alibi, so - " he switched to Super Arm and easily grabbed Morgan, eliciting a scream " - I'm sending you back to your parents."

To his surprise, Morgan giggled. "You know, you're cute when you're annoyed. I should bother you more often."

He froze and nearly dropped her in shock as he processed what she said. Finally, he settled for a laugh and kept walking. "Your mother's going to have a fit when she finds out."

"Now she'll know what grandfather felt like. And besides, there are plenty of matches she wouldn't agree with from our world."

"When exactly did I say that this was a two-way relationship? For all the fun you poke at other people's romances you seem to have very little idea of how they work yourself." They had reached Robin's room, and Mega Man knocked on the door.

"Oh, hello, Mega Man. Where did you find Morgan?"

"Following me around like a lovesick teenager," the robot deadpanned. Robin's face went through several expressions before he roared with laughter, much to Morgan's embarrassment. She did a much better job of hiding it than her mother, but it was still obvious. After a few moments he composed himself enough to thank Mega Man and shoo his daughter inside.

"Humor really is in the eye of the beholder, isn't it?" Mega Man made sure Morgan got a good look of the smirk on his face before heading back to Master Hand's chambers.


	8. Alive

**Author's Note: I'm not one to typically ask for reviews, but surely with all the views of this story,** ** _some_** **of you besides Flying Chariot have to have something to say about it, good or bad! I'm open to comments of any sort, and I would greatly appreciate any advice on how I can improve my writing or any pointers about me not doing my research.**

* * *

 _System Reboot..._

 _Power Core: Attempting restart...adequate backup power...proceeding...fusion initiated...fusion self-sufficient...fusion stable. Continuing with startup._

 _Hardware startup..._

 _Mobility...synced...started...testing...status: damaged...system functional._

 _Vocal emulator...synced...started...testing...status: damaged...system functional._

 _Weapons...synced...started...testing...status: destroyed...unavailable._

 _Copy archive...quick access blank...recovering data backups...data retrieved...ready for use._

 _Sensory functions:_

 _-Audioreceptors...started...testing...status: damaged...system functional...stream started._

 _-Videoreceptors...started...testing...status: intact...system functional...stream started._

"What the hell..." Bass grumbled as he sat up, his systems still rebooting. "Where am I? He raised his hands and made some simple movements. Satisfied that his body was functioning, he began to take in his surroundings. "How...?"

The door slammed open and Master Hand flew inside. His fingers closed around Bass' neck, lifting him off the slab he was laying on and throwing him into the wall with enough force to crack it.

"Master Hand!" Mega Man protested.

"He's not going to die from it. And quite frankly he's caused me enough annoyances to warrant that."

"But it wasn't his fault!"

"I don't need you to stick up for me, Mega Man!" Bass snapped.

"If it wasn't for him, you'd already have been deported, Bass. I would show him a little more appreciation."

"Well, I was supposed to be dead. What happened?"

"I shut your power core down before it fully destabilized. I do have powers to manipulate creation, Bass. I simply do not use them on principle. Mega Man will explain the rest." He drifted away.

"The power surges caused by your power core overloading inflicted some severe damage to your systems. Most noticeably to your buster, but a number of other systems are damaged too. I presume you already noticed you're having trouble listening?"

"Bah, it's minor. What about the bypass?"

"Well, it took less damage than we would have liked. It won't full strength any more for sure, but if Wily knows you're alive, he can still control you. Dr. Light does have a theory though. Judging by how you were able to resist it temporarily, some of your adaptive circuits may have wired themselves around the bypass, so in that case, it'll be more akin to Wily shouting in your mind rather than a true override."

"Wait, you didn't fix that damage? Then how am I functioning?"

"We repaired only as much as we thought necessary because we weren't sure how you would act when you rebooted. I can probably fix most of your physical damage, with the schematic you provided me, but I can't touch anything related to your coding, weapons, or power core. I just don't understand Wily's designs even with that schematic. Dr. Light - "

"No," Bass retorted flatly. "I'm not getting help from him. Did you think I came here unprepared? I can do repairs on myself."

"If you insist," Mega Man sighed. "It won't kill you to take someone up on their offer once in a while. Anyway, if you're going to take care of it yourself then I'll get going. The next round of the bracket is starting tomorrow and I need to develop some strategies."

"How long have I been dead for then?"

"About a half-day. Master Hand said you can participate in the loser's bracket, by the way. That doesn't start until after the actual tournament is complete, so you have a while to get yourself fixed."

He turned to leave.

"Hey, Rock?" The blue bomber turned at the sound of his original name.

"...Thanks," Bass said after they looked at each other for a while. "Thanks for the help. Not just now, but all the other times too."

Mega Man smiled. "I'm indebted to those who aid me in my cause, ulterior motives or no. And I still see you as my friend despite our differences. You might be my antithesis on paper, but we have a lot in common."

"Oh, and Bass?" Mega Man said with his back turned, just before he turned the corner. "Don't be afraid to speak your true feelings. If you keep them to yourself, you'll never know how other people feel about you too."

Bass' eyes narrowed as Mega Man left. Had he really been figured out? Or had the Blue Bomber seen it when he was repairing him? Either way, the more he thought about it, the more he agreed with Mega Man's words. He needed to have a talk with someone, and it couldn't wait until he was repaired.

 _"Lucina..."_

* * *

"Sir, there's an intruder on the grounds," Flash Man called. Wily hastily shut the capsule containing his project and sighed.

"Then terminate him, Flash Man! Summon some of the hundred-odd Robot Masters here to help you! I don't have the time to deal with this!"

"Sir, it's Master Hand! That's why! He requested to speak with you."

Wily threw a wrench at him. "Then why didn't you just say so the first time?" he grumbled before walking out.

"Ah, Dr. Wily, I presume?"

"Yes, and you must be Master Hand. This world has been abuzz with the news of Mega Man's acceptance into your league. What can the world's greatest roboticist do for you?" Master Hand was tempted to bring up Dr. Light, but with over a hundred Robot Masters backing their creator and his powers almost nonexistent outside of Smashverse, it was probably wise not to.

"I request a blueprint of one of your Devil-class robots. And, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to take some more observations of this castle. For the sake of making the mimicked environment look more like the real thing."

Wily arched his eyebrows. "A blueprint? Do you plan to mass-produce the Devil?"

"Of sorts. Of course, I will see to it that you are justly compensated for it. I am a being of my word, if your observations of me have not shown that already." Evil or not, money was usually the only way to get people to cooperate besides glory.

Wily didn't miss the hidden remark. "Observing you? This is the longest I've seen you for."

"Do you think I don't know you can remotely observe from your Robot Masters? Speaking of which, I owe you thanks for taking Bass off my hands."

"Yes, he is rather rebellious, that one," Wily sighed. "I will be back in a minute with the blueprints. In the meantime, feel free to observe the grounds. I assure you my Robot Masters will not harm you."

"I trust that you can at least retain control over them," Master Hand replied, already sketching out the fortress on a notepad he had summoned.

Wily watched the god sketch his fortress for a minute before retreating inside with a laugh. What a pitiful fool, using such power simply to host a fighting league when he could instead be conquering universes. That being said, he wasn't going to let any opportunity to prove his designs superior to Light's go to waste, however much that conclusion had to be stretched to apply here.

"Hmm..." he mused to himself as he searched for the blueprints for his original Yellow Devil. His mind was wandering elsewhere. It certainly wouldn't hurt to keep his nemesis under watch, and now that Master Hand was here it was the perfect opportunity to send infiltrators back with him. And, of course, it also wouldn't hurt to verify that Bass was indeed dead. Master Hand was a god after all, reconstructing a dead robot and hiding his resurrection probably was no major feat for him.

A few minutes later, having found and copied the blueprints onto a flash drive, Wily stood and walked down the hall towards the storage rooms. Most of his creations had already been reconstructed so the majority were empty, but he'd left 9 in storage as a contingency. Well, 10, technically, but that last one had attacked him the last time he'd tried to use him. No, it was probably best to leave Sunstar deactivated until Wily could figure out how to recode his programming. But that was for after Project Infinity's completion. In the meantime though, he had the other 9 Stardroids to rely on. Bass had looked through the entire section of the archive that held information on their universe in the weeks leading up to the start of matches; Wily knew the SRN series had been overlooked. Unknown to his enemies and loyal to the end, they would be perfect for this mission, which was almost certainly going to be a one-way trip. They would have no way to return; assuming Mega Man, Bass, and the other Smashers didn't destroy them in a first encounter, they would have practically until the end of time to hunt them down.

Wily walked between each of the Stardroids and inputted commands into the consoles on their holding cells. One by one, their eyes lit up and the cell doors slid open to let them out. Wily instructed them to stay in the room while he left to give the Yellow Devil blueprints to Master Hand.

* * *

"Where's Morgan?" Robin asked.

"Inside," Lucina whispered, meeting his eyes before looking at the floor. "It was tactless to make fun of her at that moment."

"I don't think either of us was taking Mega Man's words completely seriously," Robin admitted.

"Why should we have, though? What would a machine know about human emotions?"

"There's no point in defending our judgement, Lucina. It has been proven incorrect; now we must fix the damage, not deliberate about who receives blame."

"Gods, Robin, what kind of mother am I? I don't have the faintest idea of what to do."

Robin lowered his voice even further. "To be honest, I'm not any better. But we have to do something. She's our daughter. We need to support her." Without another word he strode in and put an arm around Morgan's shoulder. "Morgan, I'm sorry. We thought he was joking."

"What could a machine possibly know about human emotions, right?" she snapped, yanking herself out of his grasp.

"Look, Morgan - "

"I don't want to talk!" she screamed.

Robin sighed and put his hands on her shoulders. "It will help if you do. You shouldn't keep yourself pent up like that."

"What is there to talk about, anyway?"

"I would like to know the answer to that question too. Are you upset at us for making fun of you or Mega Man for not being interested in you?"

"Both. But mostly at him."

That was what he was afraid of. If it had been anyone else in Ylisse, Robin, or at the very least Chrom, could have easily pulled strings to give Morgan her way. But they had no influence here. On top of that, he had no experience in Morgan's position himself, as his first love had been his true love.

Fortunately, Lucina stepped in to fill the silence. "Morgan, I'm sorry we can't relate to your situation. But we'll always support you as your parents. As your mother, I promise what happened earlier will never happen again. I'm sure your father would say the same thing."

Morgan didn't reply, but she didn't throw her parents off of her either when they embraced her.

* * *

Bass, whose had heard the entire exchange through the door that Lucina had left ajar, sighed and walked away. Now would not be a good time at all to talk to Lucina. On top of that, he should probably tell Mega Man about this. Knowing Morgan, once she got over being rejected she would probably start looking for Mjolnir to use on the Blue Bomber. It went without saying that letting his rival be electrocuted by one of the twelve holy weapons of the _Fire Emblem_ universe would be poor repayment for everything Mega Man had done for him.

Treble suddenly appeared at the end of the hall and raced towards his master. Bass held up a hand and met the wolf at the entrance to his room so as not to disturb the Ylisseans. Deciding that a warning to Mega Man could wait a while, Bass brought up his schematic on the screen in the room and a few boxes of spare parts and tools out from storage.

* * *

Wily set the flash drive down near Master Hand, who thanked him, noted the colors of the fortress and flipped quickly through his sketches, snapped his fingers, causing his notes and the flash drive to disappear, and opened a portal to leave.

He was halfway through it when Flash Man's dome suddenly glowed and everything was frozen. Except for a robot master with a pale green, translucent, shimmering body that stepped from the crowd and took up position. Flash Man shut down his Time Stopper and Mercury melted himself down, sliding in after Master Hand as the portal closed.

He had not, however, counted on being teleported inside the mansion. Fortunately, Master Hand didn't notice. He quickly examined the contents of the desk to ensure everything had made it before opening another portal to travel to who-knew-where. Satisfied that nobody was around, Mercury reformed himself and advanced to the door. He melted himself down and slid part of his body under the door to check for anyone. Seeing nobody he slid the rest of himself under the door and started sliding down the hall, keeping in the shadows so the light wouldn't highlight his green body.

A door burst open to his right and he froze. A young girl with cobalt-blue hair ran out, apparently in a very upset state, and clutching a leather-bound book. A man and woman who Mercury presumed were her parents rushed out after her, the father demanding that his daughter drop the book. At least Mercury presumed that was it; he was calling it some strange name.

Treble burst out of a room further down the hall after the trio as their yelling echoed down the hall. _"That must be, or was, Bass' room. Time to check which is the case."_

Mercury checked to make sure nobody was around before sliding up next to Bass' door. A quick peek under it told him all he needed to know.

"Mercury! Remember your orders!" Wily's voice suddenly hissed unbidden in his mind. Mercury obeyed and began sliding away at top speed to wait for an opportunity to plant the teleporter beacon he had encased in his body. Since communication between the various universes and Smashverse existed, the beacon was set to operate on the holo-transmission frequency that Dr. Light used. Once he placed it, the other eight would be there within moments and they could do their job. And if the nine Stardroids weren't enough, then they could summon the remainder of Wily's Robot Masters and Sunstar. It was only a matter of how many Bass took down with him now.

* * *

Bass looked up to see a green substance retreating under his door. Cursing under his breath, he rushed to the door and kicked it down, drawing his buster. It still wasn't fully repaired and as such was not capable of either rapid-fire or charged shots, but it would have to do.

He emerged just in time to see Mercury's melted-down body slide behind a pillar.

"If it isn't the slippery weasel himself," Bass growled. "Come to finish me off, have you? Well, it'll take more than you to do that, damage or no!"

No reply as Bass continued to advance towards where he'd last seen Mercury. When he reached the spot, there was no hole in the window or anything to indicate where the liquid Robot Master had gone.

 _"No vents around here, not on the ground at least. And there's no hole in the window or walls. The wall's solid stone, so he couldn't possibly have escaped through cracks. Where could he be?"_ A drop of green liquid fell on his arm and a second later Mercury fell from the ceiling on top him, covering the former's face and arms with his body so Bass could not shout or shoot to attract attention. Bass tried to throw him off, but with both arms pinned there was effectively nothing he could do.

* * *

Treble burst into the training center and tackled Mega Man in the middle of his spar with the male trainer, to the Blue Bomber's annoyance.

"Treble, get off! Bass isn't here!" But the wolf merely tugged on his arm. The doors to the center burst open again and Morgan entered, looking more upset than Mega Man thought possible, her hands clenching a tome.

"I'm not the fighting type," she said unsteadily, her voice shaking with anger. "But I think I'll make an exception for you."

"MORGAN! PUT MJOLNIR DOWN, NOW!" Robin bellowed from the entrance. She ignored him and opened the book, the pages slowly beginning to glow and sending electricity upwards, forming a steadily-growing ball over Mega Man.

Lucina appeared behind Robin, Falchion drawn. "Morgan, put that tome down, now!"

"You wouldn't dare attack your own daughter!" Morgan retorted without looking back. Lucina looked like she'd been slapped.

Treble tackled Morgan while she was distracted, and the tome flew out of her hand. Immediately the ball of thunder discharged; though it wasn't at full strength and Mega Man dodged out of the way at the last minute, the explosion sent the Blue Bomber flying. While Treble was still holding Morgan down, Robin scrambled over and retrieved Mjolnir, his face a mask of rage. Lucina had sheathed Falchion, but the intensity of her glare signaled that it would take very little for her to draw it again. Morgan let herself be dragged to her feet by her father once Treble had released her.

"You are in serious trouble, young lady."

"Ghgg..." Mega Man staggered back to his feet on the other side of the training center. "M-Morgan, we need to talk. Alone." Morgan started forward but Lucina and Robin both seized her.

"You are not going anywhere until we have a talk first, Morgan!"

"This needs to happen now if she's behaving like this," Mega Man interrupted. "I know you're concerned for my safety, but I know she doesn't have a sword on her and Robin now has the only tome within her reach. I'll be fine."

And so the android and tactician-in-training walked across the street to the park, the latter's parents watching anxiously from a distance.


	9. Who Am I

**Author's Note: I'm aware that I said I would not be writing in any cross-universe pairings, and as of yet I'm still deciding whether I should, but you can blame dualbloodlines' "Cold Tea" for completely turning my perspective of female Morgan on its head.**

 **As such, I think I owe her an apology...hopefully you understand what I'm contemplating.**

* * *

"Should we get closer in case something happens?" Lucina asked.

"I trust Mega Man's judgement, which has proven superior to ours in these matters," Robin replied. "If he does not want us near her, I am willing to give his opinion the benefit of the doubt. If you must observe them, I say stay within sight but out of earshot. I will wait here." Robin sat down on a bench.

"You truly believe Morgan will not attempt to harm him?"

"What serious harm can she do between Master Hand's enchantments and her lack of a weapon? And we can't keep holding Morgan's hand; she's nearly as old as we are." Lucina sighed and walked away. If she couldn't convince her husband, at least she would do it herself.

* * *

They had sat awkwardly on the bench in the park for a few moments before Mega Man spoke up. "Morgan...I'm flattered by your attention and all, but - "

"But what? You're not human? I'm not blind you know; if you aren't interested in me, just say it!"

"No, it's not that! Well, it is partially; I'm still working out my feelings about this." He sighed. This was as new to him as it was to her. "I - I'm not ready for anything like this. I don't even know if I'm capable of reciprocating your feelings. There's too much that's uncertain. I can't just dive into something headfirst without any knowledge of how things might play out. If I can't make you happy then we have no business being together. I'd rather avoid taking that risk than wound someone."

Morgan gave a "hmph!" of disdain and something that sounded like "that's not an excuse" under her breath, but said nothing more. She turned her back to Mega Man and determinedly avoided looking at any part of him.

"Morgan, I'm not implying anything," the android added after a while. "Just...give me some time, okay - ouch! Was there any need to throw that rock?"

"Yes, because you're still too thick-headed to get what I'm asking! I don't care if you don't want me, just have the courage to say it outright!"

"It's not that simple, Morgan! Emotions aren't - "

"Do you like me or not?!" she demanded, whirling around to face him and grabbing him by the neck with surprising strength. "Will you go out with me?"

"Er, no, not yet, because - "

She shoved him away and turned around again. "You still don't get it! How in the name of Naga am I going to make you realize I don't care about you being polite?!"

Mega Man's ire was rising. He forced himself to keep calm. "Look, Morgan, you have to understand that emotions are a spectrum, not opposite poles!"

"How hard is it to simplify it into that? Your entire code is based off of zeros and ones! Logic operates on a yes-or-no basis! Shouldn't you be a master at breaking things down into two categories, then?"

"Fine!" Mega Man snapped, finally losing control of his temper. He switched to Super Arm and grabbed Morgan before unceremoniously throwing her to the ground. "There's your answer! Now get lost and stop stalking me!" He stormed off, convinced he'd blown at least one fuse. Yes, he definitely had, for there was the distinctive smell of fried circuits and a tiny wisp of black smoke seeping out from under his helmet.

* * *

Lucina rushed out from behind the bush she'd been hiding behind as soon as Mega Man left.

"Morgan, I'm so sorry," she murmured as she kneeled beside her daughter and gingerly propped Morgan against the bench in a sitting position, wiping away Morgan's tears. "I shouldn't have let you go with him."

"It's my fault, mother," Morgan sobbed. "I knew I was pushing him too fast, that he wasn't terribly interested in me, but I kept going in the hopes he might change his mind. Just on the hope of that ghost of a chance! I paid more attention to him than to both of my parents!"

"Shh," Lucina kissed her daughter's forehead and embraced her. "It's okay, Morgan. I'm here for you, and I always will be."

"Mother..." Morgan's words died amid a fresh wave of sobs and she wrapped her arms tightly around Lucina. The latter gently stroked her daughter's hair and continued to hold the embrace.

"Just take a minute to calm down, Morgan. You know he doesn't mean everything he said. Come, let's go back." Lucina stood up and tenderly lifted Morgan to her feet without letting go of her. Morgan sniffed into her mother's shoulder a few more times before Lucina felt confident that she could stand on her own and loosened her grip.

"You know, I don't know where you got the notion that you can't make a good parent," Robin commented from behind her. "I could never have done that." Lucina blushed at his compliment but replied with a smile.

"Save it for after we get back, will you?" Morgan grumbled, but her mother had already accepted Robin's kiss. Morgan made a fake disgusted face.

"Feeling better, Morgan?" Robin asked.

"Yeah. Better." Both of her parents gave her a hug before they walked back towards the mansion.

* * *

To Mega Man's surprise, Treble had been waiting at the entrance to the mansion. As soon as he drew near the wolf grabbed his arm and started tugging on it.

"What now?" the Blue Bomber grumbled, but the experience with Mjolnir had been enough to give Treble the benefit of the doubt. He froze when he heard a familiar voice.

"Just holler uncle! What's that? Oh, never mind then, I'll just drain you until you shut down."

"Mercury," Mega Man growled. "Treble, go get Master Hand, now!" Bass must have overheard or guessed Morgan was going to curse him for rejecting her. Now it was up to him to repay the favor.

"Let go of him, Mercury!"

"Ooh, making friends with the enemy, are you, Bass?" Mercury jeered as he slid off the black-and-god robot and re-formed. "If there was any hope of amnesty - "

"The old man tried to kill me! I don't give a damn about any amnesty from him anymore!"

"Oh dear. Perhaps I should cover up that mouth of yours again."

"You will do no such thing! How did you get here?"

"The good doctor has his ways of working wonders."

"You know, you're awfully confident for someone whose far from their own realm and surrounded by enemies. I would start talking before we blast you or Master Hand shows up."

Mercury shrugged. "We have time. And at any rate I'm under strict orders not to kill either of you. I'm also much better at saving my own skin."

"You mean running like a coward?" Bass taunted.

"Mm, more like being intelligent enough to realize when I'm in over my head. Now if you will excuse me, I have to cut this short as I am so very busy." A stream of sparks flew from his arms. Mega Man dove sideways, knocking Bass down too, and they both returned fire. Mercury melted himself down and his liquid body crashed over them like a wave, wrapping around their chests and pinning their arms.

"Hngh..." Mega Man grunted as he tried to use Super Arm's strength to break free, but his fingers sank straight into Mercury's body and wouldn't come free when he tried to pull them out. Bass had already slumped over, unconscious, and the remainder of Mercury's body was crawling around Mega Man like some grotesque snake, squeezing ever tighter as it drained the energy out of him...

And suddenly the Stardroid was sliding off of him. Mega Man collapsed to one knee, his vision rimmed with black while his power core hung on the verge of shutdown. His vision cleared a minute later to see Treble reviving Bass with an E-Tank. The wolf looked up as Mega Man staggered to his feet and offered him one too, which the Blue Bomber took gratefully.

"Nngh," Bass growled as he got to his feet. "I'm starting to understand why people see something worthwhile in drowning themselves with alcohol or drugs."

"...um, don't you think that's being more than a little bit disrespectful?"

"It was for rhetorical purposes. Either way, I'm thinking we need to track Mercury down before he summons reinforcements." Treble shook his head and his eyes locked with Bass' for a second. "Wait, never mind. Treble got Master Hand like you ordered him to. Slimy weasel's probably being chased around the mansion right now."

"So you two are literally linked, huh? Guess I'll have to suggest that to Dr. Light."

"You and Rush aren't?"

"Nah, I can summon him but that's about it. Not on the same level as yours." Bass could not help a smirk of satisfaction at the Blue Bomber's admission. "Anyway, it won't hurt to make sure the job's finished, and besides, I...uh, kinda need to avoid being seen by Morgan or her parents for the foreseeable future." Mega Man started turning progressively redder as that last statement sank in.

"What?" Bass started laughing. "You're not serious. You are not serious!"

"Huh?"

"You seriously asked her out?"

"No, and that's thing!" By now his entire body felt hot with embarrassment. He suddenly noticed a little more smoke from under his helmet. He should've figured that his remaining fuses would blow more easily now. Might as well just say it before he burned himself out. "I...uh, kinda dumped her. With Super Arm."

Bass stopped laughing. "So you basically told her to stop stalking you and threw her to the ground? Damn...never knew you had that in you. And, uh, you might want to get those blown fuses replaced."

"To be fair, she stole Robin's Mjolnir and used it on me. Or tried to; thanks for sending Treble to help. Especially since you nearly got killed as a result." He suddenly froze as he heard voices. "I'm...just going to leave now. Maybe help Master Hand track Mercury down."

 _"Damn, he's a lot faster than he looks."_ Bass briefly debated trying to talk to Lucina, but with her family surrounding her he decided it was best to continue repairing himself instead and retreated inside his room. Treble, on the other hand, decided to take a nap in the sunlight pouring in through one of the hallway windows. Bass stuck his head out, curious as to what would happen.

In retrospect, he wasn't sure whether to be surprised or worried. Morgan was soon fawning over the wolf, scratching him behind the ears while saying things he couldn't discern in a baby-talk tone. Treble seemed to be enjoying the attention, although the same couldn't be said of Robin and Lucina, who both looked very uncomfortable with the prospect of Morgan playing with the wolf. Given that Treble had aided him in the tournament and that Lucina had nearly died to him, Bass wasn't surprised. Either way, his companion could get along with others surprisingly well. That fact gave him a lot to think about.

* * *

Mega Man knocked on the door a few moments later. "Figured I'd stop by in case you needed some help."

Bass grunted in acknowledgement, busy trying to dislodge a melted capacitor from a circuit board on his buster. "Morgan still out there playing with Treble?"

"Yeah. I was pretty surprised about that. Spared me the trouble of having to acknowledge her presence though, so thank you."

"Mm," Bass grumbled distractedly, wedging the tool he was using a little deeper before the capacitor popped out.

"Something wrong?"

"Other than the fact I need to piece myself back together? Not really."

"Oh really?" The Blue Bomber raised an eyebrow. "Then who are you to laugh at what happened between Morgan and I if you haven't worked up the courage to talk to Lucina yet?"

"Hello? Anyone home? Those two facts aren't related in the slightest, she's married already, and Chrom and Robin don't look at you as though you might drag her off into the garden and rape her!"

"Whoa, whoa! No need to get defensive there! Geez, I can't poke a little bit of fun at you? I noticed that she's always with someone nowadays as much as you did. It's part of the nature of being a robot. Anyway, the fact you haven't talked to her yet can't be the only thing troubling you if it's perfectly reasonable for you not to."

Bass sighed. "I've been thinking about what I could possibly do now. Beforehand, all I knew was either serving Dr. Wily or trying to prove myself the strongest. No emotions besides jealousy, anger, and sadistic pleasure. Now that I've experienced more than that, I don't want to go back to Wily. Even if he forgives me for conspiring with you to defy him, I don't want anything to do with someone who think's I'm just a tool or is trying to exploit my negative side for his own reasons. I'm never going to be like you no matter what you and your old man say in my defense; firstly, because it's not what I want, and secondly, the world already has an image of me as an engine of destruction. After this tournament ends, my last purpose, which is to prove myself the strongest, will disappear too. We're going to end up settling that question decisively some time before we leave; there's months for a match between us to be set up if we don't do it ourselves."

Bass reached up and pulled his helmet off. Unlike Mega Man, who had hair under his, there was only exposed circuitry underneath. "You see? I wasn't designed with the notion of looking like a human in mind. I was designed to destroy and only to destroy. I was designed to be as conspicuous as possible so that people would fear me. But I don't want to fight anymore, not after seeing the kind of damage it causes to people or realizing that I can't even fight my own battles because of my damned old man. Then what purpose do I serve? What identity do I have left? I can't leave my old identity behind; Wily will hound me with his minions until I die for betraying him. But I can't create a new one for myself either: too many people know who I am and I don't have your ability to blend in Treble seems like he'll be just fine; worse come to worse I'll give him to Morgan as a gift and tell her how to take care of him. But I'm not designed to be a companion to someone. I was designed and programmed to be unique, and what defined who I am is no longer important to me. Now I don't know who I am."

Mega Man contemplated what his rival had said. As much as he wanted to believe Bass was wrong, the latter probably knew himself leagues better than Mega Man ever would. Not to mention his words were familiar: some of Wily's Robot Masters had made the same point when he'd tried to repurpose them. Others had found it out for themselves once they had tried to fit in and failed to.

"Look," Bass sighed. "I didn't mean to get philosophical on you, but you wanted to know what's been bothering me. This isn't something I want you to help me with, Rock. You've done a lot for me, a lot more than I deserve from you, but I won't allow you to influence this. _I_ need to find out who I truly am, and nobody else should help me with that, or else the end result might not end up being who I truly am either."

"Bass, if you have to do this, then I'll respect your judgement. Just know that, as your friend, I'll be there if you need me. That's what friends do."

"Heh heh. Funny how a mere change of setting changed how we thought about each other so drastically."

"Indeed. I'll see you, Bass." Mega Man paused at the door. "I trust...you know what you're doing with this, right?"

"Past talking to Lucina? Not really. I'm even more socially illiterate than you are."

"Well that's comforting."

"Socially illiterate doesn't equate 'shoot things in lieu of conversation'."

Mega Man sighed. "Fair enough. I'll see you around, Bass. Master Hand's probably done interrogating Mercury now."

* * *

Mercury had not reported in at any of the last three designated times. Wily's computer indicated that his energy signature was still present, and thus he was still alive, but the Stardroid wasn't responding.

Time to find out what his spy had discovered before he was captured.

Less than a minute later the call for the Stardroids to assemble rang out. Wily also took the time to reactivate the Mega Man Killers and the Genesis Unit, minus that wimp Quint. He'd probably have to give Sakugarne a brain of its own, but whatever; there was no way the jackhammer by itself could be any worse than its incompetent rider. _What_ he had been on when trying to brainwash Mega Man into fighting himself, he had no idea.

His troops lined up near the teleporter array. Now all he needed Mercury to do was activate the teleporter beacon encased in his liquid body, and that would be simple enough. And should the Stardroids prove insufficient, he had another 60-odd Robot Masters on immediate standby, and copies of all of them plus another 32 in storage. There was also always the prospect of using Sunstar, or, if the fight dragged on long enough, Project Infinity. Bass was as good as dead.

Wily brought up the appropriate program and his computer began receiving a signal from Mercury's video- and audioreceptors. For all his power, Master Hand didn't seem to know how to jam transmissions.

"Mercury, drop that beacon right where you are!" It was designed to activate once it came in contact with air, hence why it was enclosed in his body.

The Stardroid wordlessly obeyed. Once it was active the device's backup power cord began to seek out an outlet on its own while Wily adjusted the coordinates so none of his Robot Masters would be spliced with the mansion walls, furniture, or any of its inhabitants. It only took a minute more before the link had been tested and optimized and the device had found a power source. It was normally good for over a dozen uses, but with close to a hundred Robot Masters that needed to be teleported it was better to just pray there was an outlet rather than stuff Mercury with more beacons.

Wily's finger froze over the last key to finish the command that would teleport his advance guard in. The familiar excitement prior to causing destruction coursed through him and he paused to savor it before lazily tapping it.

Instantly, four floors below in the teleporter array, Terra and the other 7 Stardroids dissolved into nothingness as their bodies and code, in digital form were broadcast out of the fortress' radio aerial. The signal traveled through the small gap that Master Hand had so conveniently left open for communications between Smashverse and home and was caught by the teleporter beacon's own internal aerial.

The air around the compact device shimmered as its molecules were forced together and rewritten. Soon a pair of sky blue and white boots had been fashioned, followed afterwards by a similarly-colored body and finally, an orange helmet and a long mane of green hair. A few seconds passed while his internal memory was being configured.

And then his eyes opened and the signature sky-blue irises appeared as the Stardroid's systems booted up and he took his first step in a new world.

* * *

 **Author's Note: I'll be honest, it's hard to write Bass outside of passive-aggressive or active-aggressive moods. If it wasn't for Archie Comics (sort of) and a few other writers tackling the problem before me, I don't think I could have done it. Thanks!**

 **I hope to have the next chapter out before midterms, but no guarantees.**


	10. Invasion

**Author's Note: I'm not following any of Master Hand or Crazy's AI patterns in any of their fights.**

 **I also, much to my shame, have realized that nearly nobody besides Master Hand, Mega Man, and the Fire Emblem characters have appeared let alone have active roles in this story. I'm going to try to fix that with the next few chapters, and I'm sorry to those who were disappointed.**

* * *

"You untie him! You were the first one here besides Terra!"

"Do I look like I can untie someone when I have cannons for hands? I don't care if his weapon's your weakness! He's not going to shoot you anyway!"

Terra sighed. So much for preserving the Stardroids' reputation; these idiots were children sometimes. His right hand crackled with electricity and immediately the two fell silent while Terra untied Mercury himself.

"Now then, if we are quite done, we have a target to take out. And remember, this is enemy territory. Anything that isn't us, presume as hostile. Mercury, you're up as scout - " The door flew open and Master Hand and Crazy Hand floated through, engaged in conversation. Crazy stopped short when he saw the eight Stardroids.

"Well, well. Dr. Wily's hit team, are we?" None of the robots said a word. "Very well. I know enough about you already; we'll just destroy you and extract the information I'm curious about from your remains." He and Master Hand pounded together and the former assumed a battle stance while Master Hand did a flip, emitting violet sparks, and there was the sound of shattering glass. No particles fell and no physical damage was inflicted anywhere, but Smashers across the universe knew what had happened: Master Hand had broken the protective enchantment. They all had the same thought: something big was happening, and they needed to be a part of it.

Master Hand's fingertips glowed and lasers shot from them at the Stardroids, who scattered to avoid them with the exception of Uranus, who simply puffed himself as the laser bounced off of him. Meanwhile, Crazy Hand had gathered a ball of dark energy and backhanded it straight at Venus. The crablike Stardroid hopped over it, froze in midair for a half-second, and blasted a stream of sulfuric acid bubbles in retaliation, which Crazy effortlessly dodged. Master Hand took advantage of Venus' temporary immobilization to smash him from behind with a mighty punch that shattered the Stardroid when he hit the nearest wall. Suddenly the room started to go black as Saturn held his ring in front of him and it began to generate a black hole.

Master Hand snapped his fingers and the black hole collapsed, but the distraction had given Jupiter enough time to fly behind him. Bracing his buster with the other hand, the avian Stardroid discharged a blast of electricity that would have made Mjolnir jealous. The entire room lit up in a blinding flash for a few seconds while Master Hand writhed in agony, and when the glow faded, the charred remains of the god fell to the floor.

Jupiter cocked his buster and it discharged a large, black object of almost the same size to the floor. The Stardroid placed the weapon's standard assemblies in just as Crazy Hand, determined to avenge his brother, zoomed above Jupiter and smashed him into the ground hard so hard his engines flew apart, scattering their remains across the room at hypersonic speeds. Jupiter's legs were torn off by the shrapnel, and Terra doubled over in agony as several pieces impaled themselves in his face.

Meanwhile, Mars was attempting to shoot Crazy Hand down with Photon Missiles, guided and unguided rockets, and his autocannons, though with his armor compromised in a dozen places by metallic fragments it was proving difficult to keep his weapons trained on the erratic hand. It didn't help that Pluto was screeching, slashing, and dashing at Crazy from all directions, Uranus was throwing anything that he could pick up at Crazy, Mercury was firing off Grab Buster shots wildly, Neptune was erratically tossing blobs of corrosive acid, or Saturn's occasional black holes were sucking in everything and spitting them back out as an erratic spread of energy shots.

Crazy Hand suddenly opened a black hole of his own, trapping Pluto inside of it. He grabbed the Stardroid and threw him into a line of Mercury's Grab Buster shots, which promptly drained Pluto's reactor and caused him to shut down and collapse to the floor.

"You damned idiot!" Saturn roared and tossed his ring at Mercury, who looked down in surprise as the ring began to form a black hole while bisecting his body.

"Who's the idiot?!" Terra bellowed as he fired a Spark Chaser at Saturn, who promptly recalled his black hole while rolling aside to dodge the shot, which Terra promptly redirected towards Crazy. "Focus on the objective and not your petty grudges!"

He needed not say anything more to prove his point, for Crazy had seized Neptune, ignoring the burns the latter's acid-coated body was giving him, and methodically crushed and pounded him into pieces. However, the acid burns and dozens of fragments lodged in him were causing him great pain, and his erratic movements had ceased as he lay on the floor next to his brother.

Suddenly Mega Man burst into the room, Treble and Bass at his heels. His eyes took in the scene with growing alarm. "You!" he growled and leveled his buster at Terra.

"Pahaha! Do you really believe you can defeat me, Mega Man? You couldn't even scratch me in our first encounter!"

"Things are different now," Bass growled. "Wily rebuilt you guys using _Earthly_ alloys. And I had the power to destroy you even as your original selves!"

"It matters not!" Terra blasted a Spark Chaser at Mega Man, who rolled nimbly to avoid it. The Stardroid leader just as agilely dodged both Mega Man and Bass' return fire while ordering Saturn and Mercury to repair Jupiter and Pluto. The laser continued to follow Mega Man until the last minute, when it suddenly switched targets.

"No!" Mega Man cried and dove forward to block the shot, but he was too late. Crazy Hand arced his fingers skywards as the laser lanced through him, then fell to the ground and was still.

 _"Another needless death...how many more will I fail to save from Wily..."_ Treble suddenly tackled Mega Man as Uranus threw Master Hand's desk at them. As he got back up, he noticed Mercury had melted down and enclosed the unconscious Pluto. Realizing that he was going to revive the feline Stardroid, Mega Man ran towards them, firing as fast as he could at Mercury's body, while Treble dove at Saturn, who tossed his ring and missed...

Because it wasn't aimed at Treble. Saturn's ring collided with Mega Man, knocking him to the floor. A split second later Mars bowled into him in tank form, hurling him straight into Uranus' punch, several Spark Chasers from Terra relentlessly punishing him throughout his flight. The Blue Bomber hit the doorframe next to Bass, bounced off of it, skidded into the hallway beyond, and did not get up.

Bass cursed and dropped Saturn, who he'd been about to blast. He held both of his arms to his chest, summoning a hemisphere of crystal to protect himself as he backed away. He could probably have handled two, maybe three of them on his own, but with four of them in fighting condition and two soon to be, he was outmatched, and he couldn't hold Saturn hostage and drag Mega Man away at the same time.

There was no point making a last stand he couldn't win. Dropping back under the cover of his barrier, he ordered Treble to grab Mega Man and they fled the scene as fast as the could.

* * *

They had made it back to Rock's room, and Elec Man had allowed Bass to enter when the latter explained what was happening. The former was now explaining the situation to Dr. Light, who, fortunately, had been prepared.

Bass wouldn't know, as he was busy trying to keep Morgan from entering the room to play with Treble, who was assisting Elec Man.

"Morgan, look, I'm sorry, but we're in the middle of something important right now!"

"What could possibly be - " she suddenly stopped. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!" Morgan shoved Bass aside and ran to Mega Man. "I'm getting Master Hand, right now! You aren't getting away with this! I can't believe he was stupid enough to trust you!"

"Morgan, no!" Bass grabbed her by the collar of her robe. "Master Hand is dead! Morgan, listen to me! I need you to go to your family and warn them. We need to assemble everyone if we're going to fight what's arrived in this world with any hope of winning."

"And why should I believe you?"

A"I'm sorry, Mega Man, I knew I was being pushy earlier, but I was hoping you'd understand!" Morgan took Mega Man's battered right hand in both of hers. "F-Forgive me," she whispered. "I don't deserve it, but if you can - "

To her surprise, he squeezed one of her hands. "Wh-Why wouldn't I, Morgan? If anyone...I should be sorry. I-I lost my temper."

"Morgan, he needs space," Elec Man said softly. "And everyone else needs warning about the attackers. You must go. I understand that Mega Man is valuable to you, but it will be more than his fate on the line if you do not do your part. Now go!"

* * *

"And what have we here? A child?" Terra sneered, sticking his foot out and tripping Morgan as she ran past. "The tactician's daughter," he mocked as he examined her more closely. "Not very bright for your lineage, are you?"

A missile from above him and exploded on the back of Terra's head and all hell broke loose. The Stardroids were soon fighting off Smashers on all sides, and while they were difficult for any one opponent to fell the same could not be said of a coordinated assault.

Meanwhile the teleporter beacon in Master Hand's office, which had survived the battle inside thanks to Terra, was at work again. First came a red-and-gold robot with jagged-looking armor, who summoned a pair of diamond-edged sawblades and left the office in a run. Next, a blue-and-yellow robot with a large fan that made up his body. And then a clumsy-looking green-and-white robot that resembled a scuba diver who waddled out of the office, the tanks on his back sloshing ominously. One after another, more Robot Masters materialized and rushed off to join their comrades.

Lucina had found herself fighting alongside her father, Ike, and Marth against Pluto. Despite the malestrom of blades being slashed at him the Stardroid was proving more than capable of dodging the quartet's combined onslaught, though it left him no room to counterattack.

They finally caught a break when Pluto, growing frustrated, dashed away from them, raised his claws, and suddenly shot along the ground at breakneck speed. Ike pivoted Ragnell to counter the Break Dash just in time, and the feline Stardroid was tossed backwards.

As one, Lucina and Marth closed the gap, Marth keeping on the ground while Lucina leapt into the air in a perfect execution of Aether. Pluto deflected Lucina's strike with his left arm while sidestepping Marth's, swiping his right claws through the air inches from both of them. Attempting to capitalize on catching them off guard, he slashed at Marth as the latter turned around while doing a swipe behind him with one of his hind legs. The Hero King's blade deflected both the shockwave Pluto's claw produced and his blow only in the nick of time. Meanwhile Lucina had seen the opening that Pluto's hind leg slash had left and struck the Stardroid from behind with her blade, Parallel Falchion's edge slashing Pluto's tail off with ease. Pluto rolled backwards to dodge the two Falchion slashes aimed at his head and blocked a third with both of his fore-claws as he struggled to regain his footing, lashing out with his hind ones. Lucina saw and dove forward to intercept the blow against her father with her own blade, but it proved unnecessary as Chrom nimbly jumped away from Pluto just as Ike plummeted from the ceiling, Ragnell held in front of him. Pluto held his block, but Ike's version of Aether slashed through the Stardroid's claws and body like paper.

Chrom was about to utter congratulations when Robin suddenly emerged from the fray, trying to keep Uranus away with magic and swipes of his Levin Sword. Meta Knight was hacking away at the Stardroid's thick armor plating with very little success, while Pit and Dark Pit were both firing arrows at him, also with virtually no effect. Even a stray Gordo from King Dedede did nothing except scratch him.

"Robin!" Lucina had already run off to the defense of her husband. Chrom sighed. "If you will excuse me, I must see to my daughter's safety."

"As a father rightly should, Chrom," Ike responded approvingly, while Marth saluted his descendant with his Falchion. The three of them plunged back in to the melee and went their separate ways from there.

* * *

Link growled in frustration as Metal Man threw Metal Blade after Metal Blade at his shield. The blades kept skidding off harmlessly, but the sheer number and force of each impact was forcing him to keep his shield up, and distracting him from more important things like being able to fight back.

Suddenly Zelda teleported in front of him. Metal Man grinned wickedly and threw more blades at the princess. His expression changed to horror as Zelda's Naryu's Love reflected them right back. He only had time to scream before his own weapon sliced him body apart.

"Making me look bad again, Princess," Link grumbled, but they were familiar enough with each others' mannerisms to know it was his way of thanking her. She said nothing but merely winked back and they went their separate ways.

* * *

"Come on! Show me your moves!" Captain Falcon taunted, to which Shadow Man replied with the slightest of sneers and a pair of Shadow Blades. They were quite a bit bigger than Mega Man's, almost the size of Falcon's entire upper body. But it was too late to back down now. The bounty hunter easily leapt between them and dove downwards, his legs igniting in flames. Shadow Man slid under the Falcon Kick and lashed out with his foot, striking Captain Falcon's flight suit but to little effect.

"Not bad, not bad," he taunted. "But I've seen better!"

"I'll show you better!" Shadow Man snarled and put his hands together. Immediately a giant robotic frog appeared in a puff of smoke as the Robot Master disappeared and appeared behind Falcon with a kunai in his hand. Falcon rolled sideways to dodge the frog's spiked tongue as it lashed out at him, kicking out behind him and giving a slight grin of satisfaction as he felt and heard it collide with Shadow Man hard. Shadow Man teleported with another puff of smoke and appeared on top of the frog, which suddenly leaped and almost landed on Falcon. The shockwave of the impact knocked Falcon down and the frog's mouth opened and it spit a stream of fire. Falcon rolled to one side and the frog clumsily turned to keep chasing him, Shadow Man throwing makibishis down to slow the bounty hunter. Eventually he got lucky when Captain Falcon landed on one, the sharp, spiked point piercing his boot and impaling itself in his foot. Captain Falcon fell to the ground facefirst and Shadow Man leapt off his frog, a Shadow Blade held high to deliver the final blow.

Meta Knight swooped in out of nowhere and smacked the Robot Master in midair with his sword, sending him flying into a wall. The frog promptly turned its attention to the interloper, but Meta Knight simply flew circles around it while it tried to shoot him down with fire blasts. Gritting his teeth, Falcon pulled the three-pronged spike out of his foot and checked the wound. The makibishi hadn't pierced too deeply into his foot because he'd landed on it at an angle, but the spiked end had left a long gash in his boot. Falcon pulled a cloth bandage out of a hidden pouch on his flight suit and bound his foot with it, using some medical tape to hold it in place. That would have to do; as a bounty hunter he was used to less-than-optimal situations anyhow.

The giant frog had meanwhile gotten lucky and shot Meta Knight down with a fireball. Shadow Man was now dueling him, shruiken-on-sword, and doing a very good job of keeping the knight distracted to the point where he was nearly being hit every time a fireball from the frog went whizzing by.

"Hey! Only _I_ bring fire to this party!" Captain Falcon's fist ignited as he leap and he wound back. "Falcon PUNCH!" The frog turned around just in time to be met with a fiery blow to the front, which detonated its own fuel tank in a greasy fireball. Just then there was a cry of pain and Meta Knight went flying towards him, a Shadow Blade sticking out of one of his wings. Shadow Man slid under a stray missile and a few Pikmin and summoned another Shadow Blade before leaping in the air and throwing it. The bounty hunter dashed under the blade with Raptor Boost and caught Shadow Man with it. The latter's eyes widened as the fiery fist launched him upwards. Falcon jumped after him and grabbed his leg, throwing Shadow Man towards the ground before kicking him away. The Robot Master got to his feet just as Captain Falcon wound up another Falcon Punch.

"Are you alright?" Falcon ran over to Meta Knight, who was fruitlessly trying to dislodge the giant shruiken in his wing.

"Bah, the pain is minor compared to the inconvenience. Come, Falcon, we have more of them to destroy."

"The hero's work is never done," Falcon agreed. "But that's why they call us heroes."

* * *

"Robin! Look out!" Chrom hollered as he rolled under Uranus' punch, sticking his Falchion straight up as he did so. The blade bit deep into Uranus' arm, but Chrom also lost his grip on his sword, which remained lodged in his opponent. Uranus huffed in anger and plucked the blade out.

"Let's see how tough you are without this!" Chrom could do nothing but watch, horrified, as the Stardroid snapped Falchion's hilt off and tossed the two pieces away. "Time to die, Chrom!" The exalt recovered from his shock just in time to dodge Uranus' first punch, but the second crashed straight into his chest. Many heads turned at the sickening sound of snapping bone to watch Chrom's broken body fly a dozen feet before skidding along the ground for almost the same distance.

* * *

 **Author's Note: A makibishi is the medieval Japanese version of a caltrop. Google is the friend to turn to for answering what it looks like.**

 **I might have another chapter up in the next two weeks, but the pace is going to slow down temporarily because of midterms.**


	11. Unfinished Business

**Author's Note: Only battle scenes in this chapter. We move on after this, I promise.**

* * *

"NO!" Lucina screamed and ran to Chrom's side, oblivious to anything but her father's fallen form.

Uranus laughed. "Your pretty face is next, girl!" He raised both hands above his head, but two sudden flashes of blue later, they were bound to his helmet. Ness and Lucas joined the five Smashers already attempting to take Uranus down, who redoubled their efforts to tear open his armor while his hands were bounded by the twin PK Freezes.

"Father...don't die...please...I can't lose you again..." Lucina begged.

Bass suddenly appeared at her side. "Lucina, I can help. Just get his armor off." He scanned the exalt's body and quickly decided not to break what he saw. Chrom was alive, if only by the slightest margin.

 _"There's no point in thinking about that. This is my chance to prove that I'm not just a tool of destruction. To everyone."_ He switched to Plant Barrier and began to apply the petals to Chrom's bare chest. There was no physical difference, but Bass could see that the injuries were repairing. At the very least he wouldn't be sliding from coma to death. The application of the rest of the petals cause substantial improvement, but Chrom was still in bad shape. Bass summoned another barrier.

"Bass, shouldn't you be helping the others fight the Robot Masters?" Lucina asked accusingly. "You brought them here. They're here for your head. You could just surrender to them."

"Were you expected to fight Grima on your own because he followed you back in time? I don't want to press my problems on other people, but I am not living the rest of my life in slavery to a man who will simply toss me out like garbage when he has no use for me. The I can do to clean up the mess that attitude has caused is to keep those who I dragged into it alive." Lucina opened her mouth to object, but he'd made a valid point, and he was healing her father. Perhaps it was in the best interests of the moment to keep quiet. There was no further conversation between them until Chrom coughed weakly and attempted to sit up.

"Father! Are you alright?"

"Hngh - if being alive after that is alright, then yes," Chrom groaned. He suddenly became aware of Bass nearby and reached for his sword before he remembered that Uranus had broken it. "Damn..."

Bass ignored him and continued applying Plant Barrier petals while Lucina tried to convince her father that the robot was helping him.

"What's your game, Bass?" Chrom demanded once he'd recovered enough strength to speak. "We don't exist to solve your problems, and we have no reason to risk our lives for your petty agenda."

"I don't want you to. But Dr. Wily isn't going to care if you're caught in the crossfire and will be happy to exploit everyone's presence if he can. If you back out, you'll end up dying as a hostage or bystander. It already almost happened to Bowser and his kids, which is why I wasn't fighting until just a few moments ago."

As if to prove his point, Bowser bellowed, "TAKE THAT! THAT'LL TEACH YOU TO MESS WITH ME!" as Crash Man went flying across the room, his body ablaze. In midair the fire detonated his explosives and his body disintegrated.

"Forgive me if I don't believe you, because I don't," Chrom stated flatly.

"Fine by me." Bass stood up and left. "I look like a fucking idiot doing this anyways; who the hell thought pink and white was a good color palette?" he grumbled as he walked back into the fray.

"Father, are you coming?" Lucina asked tentatively once Bass had disappeared as she stood up and readied herself to re-enter battle.

"No. I'm not fighting any of his interests, even if I had my sword. And I thought of all people you would understand my opinion."

"He wasn't himself at that time! You didn't see him on the arena floor in his death throes! He's fighting to free himself from enslavement!"

"Oh, so this is because of a Robin parallel? I expected a better reason from you."

"Father, the role of the Shepherds is to help those in need and restore freedom and justice! Neither objective is accomplished in this case by sitting on the floor!"

"Young lady - " Bass suddenly emerged from the fray and tossed Chrom's Falchion back at him, cutting off the exalt's words. Somehow, the part where the hilt had been snapped from the blade had been repaired.

"See? He's not the robot you thought he was, otherwise he would have just left you here until someone trampled you!"

"So long as he's not brainwashing you into saying it," Chrom grumbled to himself, but nonetheless he got back to his feet and rushed back into the fight with Lucina by his side.

* * *

"Give up, Mega Man! You don't have Time Stopper to help you this time!" Quick Man taunted, speaking each word from a different angle.

"I'm not through with you yet, Quick Man!"

"Oh? Is that - augh!" By a considerable amount of luck, Samus, who had been blown back by an explosive barrage from Napalm Man and Mars, landed on top of him, her battered suit and armor sparking badly.

"Samus, are you alright?" Mega Man asked.

"I'll be fine, just you wait." Suddenly the armor opened with a hiss and the bounty hunter sprang out of it. "A good hunter is never without a backup plan," she remarked as she drew her pistol. Meanwhile various warning lights in her power armor were going off. Still pinned by its weight, Quick Man struggled furiously to pull himself out and away from the impending self-destruct, to no avail. His scream was cut off as Samus fired two shots into his head an instant before her suit exploded.

"I'm sorry about that. Neither Bass nor I wanted to get you involved."

"It's fine, I have a replacement. Besides, having a common foe is a refreshing break from fighting my fellow heroes."

* * *

 _"Watashi no bushi no yari o osoreru!"_ Yamato Man taunted as he easily parried a sequence of blows from Meta Knight, Roy, and Dark Pit with his spear.

"Speak a real language will you?" Dark Pit sneered. "Or is the only language you understand _this_?" He brought his electroshock arm out and swung it. Yamato Man leaped nimbly backwards to avoid it, swinging his spear in a wide arc to keep Roy and Meta Knight at bay.

"Why learn to speak dialects when language of battle is universal?" he taunted with a pronounced accent. He thrust his staff forward and the spear tip launched off like a missile. Dark Pit raised his orbitars, but to his surprise the spear tip tore straight through them. Yamato Man leapt upwards and raised his spear high, another tip fastened to it. Meta Knight intercepted the Robot Master in midair, and though Yamato Man parried the strike it knocked him off balance and caused his impale to miss. Roy, meanwhile, was forced into combat with Sword Man as the latter slammed Ike across his vision.

"If you pride yourself so much on honor, fight me on even terms!" Meta Knight snarled. Dark Pit immediately took advantage of the respite to find an easier foe to fight. Yamato Man slid his spear on his back and drew out a katana, holding it in fighting stance before doing a brief salute.

"Come then, to your doom!" Meta Knight immediately regretted his decision as Yamato Man's blade slammed into his. The Robot Master had a size, weight, and strength advantage, and they were relatively even in terms of mobility and speed. Skill wouldn't matter much at this point, not when the odds were so heavily stacked against him.

"Grr..." Meta Knight growled in frustration as Yamato Man continued to press him down to the ground.

Lucina flew out of the crowd, ready to slice Yamato Man in half with Aether. Chrom attacked an instant later from the other side. Yamato Man grabbed his spear with one hand and rolled out of the way of Lucina's Aether while parrying Chrom's strike with his spear, sheathing the katana with the other hand to give himself better leverage with the spear.

They clashed, blades-on-spear, for a few minutes. It didn't take an expert to realize that with Chrom tired from the healing, his presence was essentially a non-factor. But he had to protect his daughter. Yamato Man, seeing his poor condition, decided to ignore him as Meta Knight and Lucina struck from his left and right. The Robot Master blocked both attacks with his spear, though he was not able to counterattack as their blades kept him on the defensive. Seeing his chance, Chrom summoned his strength and wound up for a slash that would cut the Robot Master in half. Yamato Man backflipped right over it and kicked the exalt in the back, knocking him to the ground. But to their surprise, he held his weapon at attention and waited for Chrom to get up.

"Preying on the weak is for cowards. I will not duel a swordsman so far below his peak. Go; I shall - " he suddenly cursed in Japanese and smacked Chrom hard with the blunt end of his spear before haltingly lifting it.

 _"Not another one...I don't want to kill another brainwashed enemy...but I must protect my father!"_ Lucina rushed the Robot Master and swung Parallel Falchion at his unguarded body. The blow snapped Yamato Man back to his senses and he immediately parried her next strike with his spear before delivering a hard knee to her stomach. As Lucina gasped for air the Robot Master shoved her with the blunt end of his spear and pinned her to the ground with his boots. But again he did not strike.

"You are beaten," he said simply. "But I...do not...shame the defeated...I...do..n-not...I-I m-must...for Master Wily." Meta Knight flew at him, but Yamato Man deflected his rush, sending the warrior headlong into the melee surrounding them. Lucina closed her eyes and waited for the agony of the spear. This was it. There was no way out. She'd failed her father, friends, and family.

"You will not harm her!" Bass hurtled out of the crowd and, summoning a tomahawk to his hand, threw it with all his might. The projectile tore into Yamato Man's armor and again shook him back to his senses.

"Are you alright?" Bass asked her before helping the princess to her feet. Meanwhile Yamato Man had gotten to one knee and was holding his spear as though it were a snake. He regarded it for a second before breaking it in half and unfastening his katana, throwing both weapons away.

"There is...nothing honorable about slavery. Forgive my weakness for submitting," he said to Lucina before bowing before her. "My life is yours to take. Your mental strength makes you a far more worthy opponent than I could ever hope to be. As a warrior, it is the least I can do to atone for my weakness to insure that those of such pure heart and great strength survive to pass it on."

 _"How many more of these enslaved robots are we going to have to fight? Mega Man and Bass weren't exaggerating about Wily's ruthlessness after all..."_ Despite the horrible sense of _deja vu_ , Lucina closed her eyes and brought the Parallel Falchion down. There was a clunk of metal on the floor, and for a moment both Lucina and Bass stared at the now-headless Robot Master.

"Thank you," Bass said after a while. "You ended his life the way he wanted it to end. That's a greater kindness than I could ever muster."

She didn't speak for a little bit. "...He was just like the Risen of my world. Like Robin could have been. Just an unwilling puppet that was only able to free themselves when it was too late, if at all. How many slaves am I going to be forced to free in my lifetime..."

To her surprise, he put a hand on her shoulder. Noticing her jump at his touch, he removed it before speaking. "I know that you're upset, but we can't dwell on that, not when our friends are counting on us to contribute to the fight. I'll make sure nobody gets near you while you get Chrom out of here. He's not going to be doing anyone any favors if he can barely stand."

Lucina nodded and began dragging her father away from the fighting.

"Lucina?" Bass called, and she looked up. "Take care, okay?" He turned back to the fight, ignoring her suspicious expression.

* * *

"Back Slash!" Shulk yelled as he brought Monado's beam blade down on Uranus. The attack was finally able to pierce the Stardroid's battered but, until now, intact armor. Shulk spun Monado in his hand and activated the beam as he stabbed it straight into the hole Monado had carved, and Uranus finally shut down for good.

"Nice going Shulk," Robin gasped, exhausted from the long chase he'd lead Uranus on.

"Ah, it's nothing. You look a little worse for wear, Robin. You should stay back from the front lines for a bit."

"I'll just accompany you. Sword combat is less draining than using magic."

"I could always use someone to watch my back. I can't foresee everything -" His eyes widened he saw what was about to happen. "- Cover your eyes, now!" Even Robin's thick robes couldn't completely stop the blinding glare of Bright Man's Flash Stopper. His vision was tinted bright white. How Shulk had already managed to recover and launch himself at Bright Man he had no idea. The rest of the combatants, Robot Masters and Smashers alike, seemed to be reeling from the same sense of confusion.

"You flipping idiot!" Toad Man yelled. "Try giving us a little warning next time, dimwit!"

"Haha! He got you there!" Bowser Jr. cackled.

"Dim? _Me?!_ How dare you! I'll show you that I'm the brightest around!" Bright Man's bulb started glowing again, but in the next instant Monado's blade had sent him flying backwards with a large slash in his chest. Bright Man slammed into a pillar and did not get up.

The fighting had started back up again, with those closer to the epicenter of the pulse either being cut down or forced to retreat. Robin, for his part, was struggling to blink the spots out of his eyes even a full minute afterwards. His eyes happened to sweep over Bright Man's form when something caught his attention. He blinked a few times before deciding it was more productive to ask Shulk to confirm what he was seeing.

"Oh Gods no - Morgan! Get out of here!" Robin drew his Levin Sword and ran towards his daughter. "What do you think you're doing?! You'll get yourself hurt here!"

"Father, I'm not much younger than you! And I can fight, too! I brought some tomes from the case that you took with you." Behind Robin, Top Man spun out of the melee, scattering several fighters unfortunate enough to be in his path. Morgan cast an Elwind that unbalanced him and sent him crashing into a wall, and Link wasted no time finishing him off. "See? I did just fine! Father, I know you're worried about me, but I can't stand and watch while the rest of the family puts themselves in danger!"

Robin sighed and affectionately ruffled his daughter's hair, to her surprise; she'd been expecting a drawn-out argument. "You inherited your mother's determination. She'll be so proud to see you fight alongside her. You can come with me, but stay close, alright? And Morgan, promise me that you'll listen to anything I tell you to do." She was about to respond when he placed his hands on her shoulders. " _Anything_. If I ask you to leave me, you must. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Her earlier enthusiasm was gone. "But n-nothing like that will happen, right?"

"A tactician cannot afford to assume, Morgan." Robin noticed she'd left his side and was kneeling over Bright Man, fiddling with his helmet.

"Whoever designed a screw-on weapon is an idiot," Morgan muttered to herself as she popped off the Flash Stopper, filament and all, from Bright Man's head.

"Erm, Morgan, how are you going to make it work?"

She held up an Elthunder tome. "With electricity, duh! I figured we don't need full power, but if it works like the other lights here, any power should cause it to light up! Instant stun, easy finish!"

Robin struggled to comprehend the fact that his daughter had seen the great (and hindsightedly obvious) tactical advantage the Flash Stopper would bring their side before he did for a few seconds, then decided to brush it off. "That's my daughter." He approvingly ruffled her hair again and they dove into the fray, Robin clutching his Levin Sword and Morgan brandishing the Flash Stopper in one hand and a tome in the other.

* * *

"Haha! You are destined to die, I have foreseen it!" Crystal Man taunted as Ness and Lucas were blown off their feet when one of his Crystal Eyes exploded in between them.

"Try foreseeing anything when you're blinded!" Morgan raced in, lifted the Flash Stopper, and zapped it with Elthunder. She gasped and dropped it to the floor as the electricity surged back into her body, but fortunately the hardened glass didn't even crack.

"Hyah!" Robin thrust his Levin Sword into the blinded Robot Master with all his might and Crystal Man collapsed. "Are you alright?" he asked Ness and Lucas. The two nodded and Ness pointed to Morgan, who was exhibiting classic signs of mild electric shock.

"That...could have been better planned," she winced. "Note to self: don't touch the metal part directly." Ness reached into his backpack and pulled out a baseball glove, which he handed to Morgan. "Oh...well that takes care of that, thanks, Ness. It's time to tip the scales!"

"Hey, that's my line!"

"Don't I kinda inherit rights to use it as your daughter?"

* * *

 **Wily Castle**

Wily cursed. Now that the idiot known sarcastically as Bright Man had let the enemy take his Flash Stopper and that Morgan girl had found out how to use it, his Robot Masters were effectively nothing more than targets. The only reason he hadn't lost yet was because Morgan couldn't be everywhere at once, and that was becoming less of a comfort by the second.

He'd just sent through his six best: the Genesis Unit and the Mega Man Killers. In hindsight, he probably should have conducted more thorough surveillance of Smashverse before devising his attack strategy, but it didn't really matter. Those Robot Masters would be nothing but hindrances to his plans if they outlived him; with his death drawing closer every day, they were quite disposable.

If they couldn't take Bass out before they died, then Wily would just wait until the robot returned to his home world. In the meantime, he had to get Project Infinity ready for the welcome back reception his ultimate creation be giving Bass.

* * *

 **Author's Note: For those of you wondering where I got Project Infinity's name from, divide one by infinity and you have his true name. My education goes to good use.**

 **I was originally going to make more scenes, and I might add some at the end once this story is over, but for now I'm going to try to wrap this up in a few chapters. Last fight scenes next chapter, and then endgame.**


	12. Endgame

**Author's Note: Last battle scene here, and now we're moving on.**

 **A thank you to everyone who's reviewed, favorited, and/or followed this story. I really appreciate your support!**

* * *

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the Flash Stopper had not proven to be the be-all-and-end-all of the Robot Masters. Rather than surrender, they simply refocused their efforts on killing Morgan.

Robin tackled Morgan as Drill Man shot up under where she had been standing. Morgan zapped the Flash Stopper with her Elthunder tome, but Drill Man was already burrowing back into the ground. The pulse did finally catch Flash Man off guard, giving Robin enough time to plunge his Levin Sword through the robot's head and channel a lethal shock through it. An unfortunate Ring Man was also blinded and taken down by Zelda and Peach.

"Father!" Robin whirled around to see Tengu Man shooting skywards with Morgan in his grasp, nimbly avoiding dozens of projectiles being thrown his way. He finally landed on the roof of the mansion, holding his blades to Morgan's throat.

Fortunately, Villager was on the problem. Motioning for Lucas to come with him, he grabbed the other Smasher and inflated two balloons. Tengu Man threw a wind blade that popped both balloons, but as he started to fall Villager threw Lucas forward as hard as he could, and Lucas shot a PK Freeze. The range was extreme but the ice managed to freeze Tengu Man's legs to the roof.

"No way!" Morgan scrambled out from under his grasp while he was distracted. Lucas ran towards him, brandishing his stick, but a blast of wind knocked him down as Tengu Man fired his engines again, breaking free of the ice.

"Tornado Hold!" Both of the children were caught in the attack and thrown violently from the roof. Marth leaped skywards and caught Morgan while Lucas managed to land on his feet.

"Are you alright? You shouldn't be here, Morgan!"

"I'm fine, Marth. Where's the Flash Stopper? I dropped it."

"It's over here, and now it ends for you!" Sheep Man zapped the bulb before anyone could stop him, and the Smashers staggered away from the blinding light, covering their eyes. Suddenly the light stopped as Sheep Man dropped the Flash Stopper, owing to Parallel Falchion slicing off both of his arms and impaling him in the chest.

"I say when it ends!" Lucina yanked her blade out and the Robot Master collapsed. She grabbed the Flash Stopper, intending to destroy it, when another Tornado Hold yanked her into the air.

"Hyah!" Tengu Man swooped out of nowhere and did a backflip, slamming his legs down on the dizzy Lucina as she was ejected from the tornado. The blow knocked her down into the tornado, which flung her out to one side violently. She hit the ground and slowly got on all fours, struggling to regain her senses. Tengu Man dove at her, blades poised for a decapitating strike.

A streak of violet that was Treble intercepted the diving Robot Master, diverting his course and causing him to crash. Drill Man suddenly popped up from under him, but as the Robot Master reversed his direction to retreat back into the ground the wolf grabbed one leg and dragged him from the earth. Two of the Koopalings, accompanied by their father, were soon tearing him apart, while Diddy Kong finished off Tengu Man with an overcharged Peanut Popgun.

"Mother, are you alright?" Morgan had run over to her, picking up the Flash Stopper again and dodging a Ballade Cracker in the process.

"Yes, I'm fine, just a little dizzy." She frowned at seeing Morgan pick up the oversized light bulb. "What are you doing with that?"

"Stunning opponents with it to make things easier for everyone! Watch!" Ballade was now sprinting at them, his arm at the ready to launch another one of his powerful explosives. Morgan zapped the Flash Stopper with another Elthunder and it lit up. Ballade cried out but instead of raising his arms to block the light, he started to fire off Ballade Crackers left and right. Marth wasted no time in coming to his descendants' rescue, Falchion piercing Ballade's armor with ease.

"N-no...I refuse to go without taking one of you with me!" With the last of his energy Ballade smashed an elbow into Marth's face before freeing himself of Falchion and blasting the Hero King with a point-blank Ballade Cracker. Nearby Peach, Charizard, and Sonic, who were having trouble dealing with Punk, also received a Ballade Cracker each before he finally shut down.

The smoke caused by the explosion cleared to reveal Marth battered and on one knee, but alive. Falchion was charred black from the explosion but the damage appeared to be mostly cosmetic thanks to his timely Counter. Sonic and Peach had both dodged the ones aimed at them, and while Charizard wasn't as lucky it would take a lot more than one explosive to bring the dragon down. Meanwhile one of the stray Ballade Crackers had blown Enker apart, much to the relief of Zelda, Link, and R.O.B, who had found their every move reflected back as an energy blast.

"Well, that could have gone...better," Morgan sighed. "Come on, mother, the battle's nearly over."

* * *

"Hyah!" Falco kicked Jewel Man hard in the chest, cracking the crystal embedded there.

"Augh, you jerk! Do you have _any_ idea how rare such gems are?" Before he could continue his tirade Fox grabbed him from behind and smashed the crystal with the butt of his blaster. Falco was about to finish the Robot Master off with a shot to his insides when Jewel Man threw his hands out and four heavy gems appeared from his body. He threw the Jewel Satellite as soon as it formed, the heavy projectiles missing Falco by inches.

Jewel Man clenched his hand and all four crystals shattered, the fragments reversing direction and flying back at all three of them as a storm of razor-sharp shards. Luckily Kirby inhaled them all. The Robot Master was far from finished, though, and Hornet Man had arrived to aid him. Kirby was soon beset by the latter's swarm of robotic helpers. Jewel Man took advantage of the distraction to pin Fox to the ground by falling on top of him. Summoning another Jewel Satellite and shattering it, he raised his hand to shoot the shards through Fox when Falco smashed him with his wings. Though it saved his comrade the shards merely turned on Falco. But just before Jewel Man launched them, there was a flash of black and he was suddenly reeling from a powerful punch from behind. That state lasted no longer than a half-second before he was launched skywards with tremendous force.

"I hope we are not late to aid you," a muscular man in a karate _gi_ with a red headband and gloves said as his feet returned to the ground after the Shoryuken. Behind him was a Pokemon that Falco recognized as Mewtwo, a red-haired swordsman he remembered as Roy, Master Hand, and Crazy Hand.

"Well you're a bit late," he replied. "There's some guys left, but that Morgan girl pretty much made it a guaranteed win for us. Why is she allowed to be here, anyway? She doesn't participate in Smash at all."

 _"Of all things to say, you talk of rules and jealousy that a noncombatant can do better, Falco? You haven't changed at all,"_ Mewtwo grumbled.

"I want to kill something already!" Crazy Hand yelled before Falco could retort. Master Hand sighed.

"You insisted on following me rather than going straight to the fight."

"Because everyone has a pair of hands! What good does one hand do?"

"You know what, let's just get this over with. We can debate about this later."

* * *

Satisfied that his victim was dead, Bass stood up to see Master and Crazy Hand approaching him. The other Smashers were finishing off the few remaining Robot Masters.

"Well well, somebody's in trouble!" Crazy cackled.

"I promised I would wait until after I talked to Bass to force you back on medication, Crazy, but don't think I won't change my mind." Turning to Bass, he continued. "Now then - you have a minute to explain why you brought this army here before I kick you out."

"They came for me! I didn't do anything!"

"And how would they do that? I never opened another portal to your world! How could they possibly sneak in, and so many of them, too?"

"Um, brother, you did. When you went to talk to Wily, remember?"

Before Master Hand could say anything, Bass picked up the story. "All the old man would need is one Robot Master with a teleporter beacon. I've seen Rock communicating with Dr. Light, so apparently inter-universe communications work. A teleporter beacon operates the same way radio, TV, or any of that stuff does."

Master Hand eyed Bass suspiciously. "You have the benefit of the doubt. **For now**. If you come under suspicion again I will have you expelled immediately. Now if you'll excuse me, we have to clean up your mess." He drifted away without giving any instructions despite his words, twirling and pointing his index finger at the various fighters as he passed, re-casting the protective charms. Crazy Hand veered drunkenly behind him.

Mega Man came over. "Don't tell me you said something stupid to him..."

"Why? This entire battle was so that I could stay. I'm not stupid."

"Alright, alright," the latter grumbled. "We should go help with the cleanup."

"What is there to clean up that the servants can't pick up with a vacuum cleaner or that Master Hand can't fix instantly?"

"...Good point."

"Mega Man!"

"Oh no," the Blue Bomber groaned as Morgan came running over.

"Are you alright? Did my idea help you?"

"I-I'm fine, a-and, y-yes, it helped a-a lot - "

"Awesome! Oh, it's so awesome to understand something new! I bet I could learn robotics from you, huh? Can I if you'll teach me?"

"Um...sure...I-I mean, I don't know much myself - "

Bass chuckled as Mega Man grew more and more flustered with each passing moment at the conversation he'd been dragged into. "Dude, she won't bite you. Might as well roll with it since you've pretty much had one thrown at you. She got certainly took being dumped rather easily."

Mega Man groaned. "All of those are reasons _why_ this is so awkward, Bass...and as if you're an expert on girls..."

"What are you implying? I am not being pushy!" Morgan protested, ignoring Mega Man's statement.

Bass just smirked in reply. "I'm not saying anything new, Rock, just parroting what you told me." He decided to refrain from mentioning the incident with Mjolnir and disappeared with a swish of his cloak.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" they both demanded, but he had already teleported into the lengthening shadows of the sunset, out of sight of the pair. Maybe he wouldn't be too out-of-place here after all.

"Gods, why does he bother with that mysteriousness thing? It's more cringeworthy to watch than hearing stories of Mother trying to fool people into thinking she was Marth just by wearing a mask."

"Well, Marth preceded her by over 2000 years. Not like someone couldn't have been born with the same name. That happens all the time in my world, people naming their kids after heroes. Supposedly it will make them as great as their namesakes."

"She didn't even alter her voice to sound like a guy, or cut her hair! The moment that mask was cut off Father and the rest of them figured it out!"

"...oh. Well, I don't know if Bass is _that_ bad at being enigmatic."

Bass watched as the pair continued their conversation. _"See, Rock? You gotta follow your own advice more. That wasn't hard and it won't be...at least, not for you."_ He caught sight of Robin and Lucina across the courtyard, in the midst of a throng of Smashers. Speaking of which, he had some explaining to do, to hell with whoever heard him. It would probably be his last chance.

"They said they followed him..."

"I heard he led them here..."

"What nerve, to stay around here and walk as though he were one of us after that..."

Hostile, barely-suppressed whispers followed Bass as he slowly made his way through the Smashers towards Lucina, who was in conversation with Peach and Zelda. Robin, meanwhile, was with a group of male Smashers, notably the other _Fire Emblem_ heroes. Thankfully Chrom was nowhere to be seen otherwise he would've been decapitated.

"Doesn't he have a lot of nerve, walking around like nothing happened," Captain Falcon said in a loud whisper. "Though admittedly, it was fun to actually be able to break things for a change."

Bass forced back the urge to blast his smug face and kept walking. There wasn't a need to ask anyone to move; they parted before him like the Red Sea. Lucina and Robin had both noticed his approach and were eyeing him cautiously.

"Lucina, might I have a word?"

She exchanged a glance with her husband. "Very well, but I am sure what you have to say can be heard by Robin, too. Lead the way."

Once they were out of earshot, he began. "I suppose I owe you an explanation for the past few weeks, and in particular why I've been hounding you. The first time, it was partly because I was still mad about the whole incident earlier with Sonic and Pikachu. In the arena though...I singled you out. I wanted to fight you one-on-one because you interested me. The night before, you made me do something I've never done before in my life: regret harming someone. Nobody else has had that effect on me before." He sighed. "The same thing happened after the exhibition team battle, which is why I wanted to apologize to you."

Robin's eyes were as narrow as a snake's now and ablaze with rage. "So you're saying you were making my wife and daughter's lives miserable because you had a crush on Lucina?" He was going for his Levin Sword. Meanwhile Lucina stood confused as to how to react to this turn of events.

"That's one way to put it. You can put that sword away; I'm not about to chase after a married woman who hates me. I have better things to be doing, like putting a hole in my old man's head. I suppose I should thank you for saying it outright and saving me the trouble, Robin."

"And how can I trust you? You wouldn't bother talking to us if you didn't still harbor feelings for her, would you?"

"The only word I can offer besides my own is Mega Man's. Otherwise I'll just have to prove it to you. And yes, I won't deny that. I am not, however, a mere animal. Ironically, you two and Chrom are one of the few people I know on any level here, so I would like to earn your trust. I also feel that I am indebted to you for putting up with me. By confiding everything to you, I was hoping to get that off my circuits."

"Robin...I believe him."

Robin shot her an expression that said "tell me later" and sheathed his sword. "I trust Mega Man's judgement, so I will abide by your word if he can vouch for you. But do not think that I will not be watching you for a moment."

Bass rearranged his cloak. "I wouldn't expect anything less of a devoted husband such as yourself. I will not trouble you two any further, good day." And he disappeared with a swish.

"Are you mad, Lucina?" Robin demanded once Bass was gone. "He said so himself that he hasn't put his desires aside! Mega Man may be a good judge of character, but he isn't infallible!"

"Bass has never held back his opinions before. I see no reason why he should now."

"But he just revealed he's been hiding a crush on you since day one!"

She took his hands in hers. "Robin, can you say we were any different at the start? It's sweet that you care so much about my safety, but I can handle myself. If anything, we should be more worried about what our daughter's up to." She turned and headed back towards the crowd in the middle, gently tugging Robin's hand when he didn't follow.

"What about Chrom?" Robin asked, hoping his blush would dissipate. Now that he thought about it, most of his reaction had been out of primal jealousy rather than any real logical reason. "How's he doing?"

"Whatever Bass did, it saved his life. He should be fine now that he's in the medical ward, but I am indebted to him for preserving his life."

"So that's why you trusted him."

"He could have killed us both right there or sided with those invaders if he wanted to end us. I don't believe he has malicious intentions because he didn't. Robin, I understand you're a tactician, and that you have to expect the unexpected, but sometimes, the most straightforward possibility is the truth."

"My wife giving me her analysis? Who are you and what have you done with Lucina?"

* * *

Bass headed for Master Hand's office. The announcement had just been made that the damage from the battle had been repaired, but most of the Smashers had elected to remain outside and savor the last light of day. He, on the other hand, could not afford to do so. With his last obligation to them fulfilled, he had other matters to see to.

"Come in," Master Hand's voice called when he knocked. "Bass. What can I do for you?"

"I formally request to be removed from the Super Smash Brothers."

* * *

 **Author's Note: I promise I won't leave you guys hanging for so long with the next chapter.**


	13. Redemption

**Author's Note: And we're reaching the end of this story! There isn't much strictly _SSB_ material left, unfortunately. For those of you who are _Mega Man_ fans, these last two chapters are for you!  
**

* * *

Master Hand didn't question his words, but Bass continued with the explanation he'd rehearsed. "There is no point in me staying here when my old man is throwing everything he has to terminate me. The others don't deserve their time here ruined by my personal issues. Dr. Wily is a psychopath; he won't care if anyone here is caught in the crossfire as long as I'm dead at the end. And he won't give up after this either."

"Plus he's actually playing by the rules now," Crazy Hand chimed in from the next room. "No fun in that."

"Bass, nobody is holding you accountable for what happened today, contrary to what I said earlier. I appreciate that you are willing to shoulder the blame, but it lies with me alone. Mega Man informed me of the potential risk of Dr. Wily retaliating against us if he found out we had secretly preserved you, and yet I decided to pay him a visit as planned, with no precautions taken in case he were to exploit my visit. The Robot Masters entered through the portal that I created. I was trying to save face in front of everyone by lecturing you, but the truth is unavoidable. I will recap what happened tomorrow so that you may be absolved. I refuse to accept your request."

"Whatever happened already doesn't change the fact that he can still send his army back through when he rebuilds them. You still underestimate him!" He calmed down a bit before continuing. "And I don't fit in here. Socializing is not a strong suit of mine."

"If that is the way you feel, I cannot help you. But I will not accept your resignation."

"I snuck in here! You never invited me!"

"That is not entirely true. Like Elec Man, you were on the list of trophies. You would have paid this world a visit eventually, though you would probably end up posing for a trophy instead of fighting. I felt that, since you went through the effort to get here anyways, and Crazy had taken sympathy to you, you deserved a chance. Do not get me wrong: there are instances in these past few weeks that I do hold you completely responsible for. But you are a part of this community now, whether you like it or not. The fans are quite appreciative of your performances in the arena, however few and far between those have been."

"So I'm still here because I make this event of yours more popular?"

"You are here because I do not believe you deserve to be evicted. The fact that audiences approve of your fighting performance is just a bonus. Bass, if you want to leave, I won't stop you. But you are still a member of the Super Smash Brothers, however much you try to run from that fact. The Subspace Emissary incident fell squarely on Dedede, Bowser, Ganondorf, and I. But the others forgave them because they didn't know they were being used. Bass, we understand here that everyone carries a burden of some sort. If we did not accept that, then we would not have accepted you in the first place, or have taken a number of our other fighters in."

The black-and-gold robot looked up. "Then I'll stay. Whatever I've said, it is an honor to be here, and I'm grateful that you believe I deserve it."

* * *

 **The next day**

"Ladies and gentlemen of the Super Smash Brothers, I thank you all taking the time to attend this meeting," Master Hand called. "First of all, I am sure you are all anxious to know when the tournament will resume. Rest assured, Crazy and I are working to see that matches resume, and it looks like we will be on track for a resumption tomorrow." Applause and murmurs of approval greeted this.

"Secondly, I know many of you are curious about the events of yesterday, and in particular, how they relate to one of our newcomers. With regards to that, I want to make it clear right now that my carelessness is as much responsible for it as whatever troubles Bass has been experiencing in bringing about yesterday's events. I have decreed that he is absolved of blame in the incident, and this decision is final!" He had to raise his voice to be heard over the outbreak of jeers and grumbling.

"Order! ORDER! Thank you. Lastly, some of the arenas had sustained damage from the attack and will not be open until repairs are complete. There is a full list that will be updated hourly posted at the entrance to the cafeteria and outside my office. That is all for today!"

The meeting broke up, most of the Smashers in conversation over their opinion on the ruling. Bass, lingering in the back corner of the auditorium, waited until they had left to exit, his mind on what to do. He could train, sure, but ever since the bypass had burned out he'd been feeling that he'd wasted his life on fighting. Surely there was more to life than power and conquest. He didn't know where he fit or how much more there was, but that was a question he'd have to answer for himself.

In some ways, he missed the days when he believed the only purpose to his life was to destroy Mega Man. Back then everything was simple and clear-cut. Or at least, it was to his mind. It didn't even take the neutralization of his IC chip bypass to realize that the notion of simplicity was an illusion. His own motives for rebelling against Wily had become progressively more complex every time.

And then there was the past few weeks. The moment he had decided to accept his rival's aid in dealing with his problem had been critical in changing his perceptions. Every individual had their own strengths and weaknesses; no matter how powerful they were, nobody was flawless. Not even Master Hand, a deity with power far exceeding his own. Part of Bass' initial goal had been to see if he could adapt the god's powers, or that of his brother, and use it for his own sake. The ambition had died when he heard Master Hand mentioning that they only had the power to create and manipulate, not directly destroy. But nevertheless, it was strange to reflect upon it now. How vain and misguided the ambition for power seemed now.

But what _was_ he to do with his life, then? Even if he had a spot in the Super Smash Brothers, he was in no way welcome in his own world. Wily would have him killed on sight, no doubt, and of all the Robot Masters, he had both the biggest bounty on his motherboard and the highest attributed death count. Nothing would be able to change the image he had wrought of himself in the eyes of humanity, not after he had spilled their blood. While he regretted that, it was more because it limited his options right now than out of any moral qualms; death and destruction were in his nature. The fact that the urge to cause them had been able to be restrained at all was a measure of how much self-control he had attained since his construction, but either way it was hard-coded into him, and he would be lying if he said that a part of him didn't still enjoy it.

He sighed. Pondering about it now wasn't going to do him any good. And at any rate, he still had one contribution to make to his world: removing his creator and his creations from existence. Again, he was doing it mostly because they had been used against him with the intention to kill, but part of him also said it was the right thing to do. Even up until a week ago, he would have said that he didn't care about doing the right thing, or of redemption in the eyes of the world, but that had changed. Maybe because he had realized he was as good as scrapped anyway. Mega Man's talk of leaving behind a legacy had also been a catalyst for the change. Funny, that a single fact could change so much about him. Now that he thought about it, everything had really just come down to the realization that he was living on borrowed time. Well, that and the fact that he had a minor obsession with Lucina.

Even though her fate seemed like it was sealed, that her failure was all but certain, she had found a way to fight back by going into the past. And had succeeded. Bass saw no such solution to his own predicament, but it was certainly an inspiring example. It didn't hurt that she was rather attractive, too...

He shook his head to derail that train of thought. Though her story was inspiring, the woman herself probably abhorred him for what he'd done to her and her child. While she had his respect, that wasn't mutual, for one. For another, despite the many low points of his life, murder for selfish reasons wasn't one of them. He had killed humans, but they had all been either law enforcement or caught in the crossfire. While he didn't obey the First Law of Robotics when it came to defending himself from the military and police, he didn't kill those who weren't at least capable of fighting back. Not even to bait out Mega Man into fighting him. It went against his judgement and whatever moral values he had to gun down Robin for the sake of chasing after Lucina. No, it was best to put those feelings to rest and leave them that way. He could draw on her story for inspiration once he returned to his own world, but he vowed that that would be all he would remember her as.

Bass saw that his wanderings had taken him near the hospital wing. He decided to enter.

"What do you want?" Chrom grunted as he saw him enter. While his voice carried evident suspicion, there was none of its usual hostility.

"Just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"And why might that be?"

"You were injured fighting my battle, and therefore it's my responsibility if anything happens to you."

Chrom said nothing for a while. "Bass...I was wrong about you, it seems. I appreciate the gesture."

"Being around people like you helped me change that. You deserve more of the credit than I. But I'll accept that you don't loathe me."

"...So what are you planning on doing once this is over?"

"I don't know. I sure as hell am not going to serve my old man any longer, and the rest of the world hates me for what I've done. I don't think even Mega Man's word is going to persuade them."

Chrom sighed and sat up a little straighter. "I may not know much about you androids or your world, but I know that there is more to life than pre-scripted fate. Whatever you do, do it as yourself, first and foremost. Even if isn't conducive to your immediate prospects of survival, stay true to yourself. From what I've been told, you've finally found out the kind of being you truly are here and now, you have a chance to act on it. So act on it. Do what you feel is right. I know you don't appreciate others taking up your struggle for you, but honor that sacrifice now with your decisions from henceforth. That, and nothing more, has been my guiding principle all these years."

Bass laughed and stood. "You sound a lot more ready to be a grandfather than you give yourself credit for. I can see why your people and friends think so highly of you. Thanks for the advice, Chrom."

"Just don't expect Robin, Lucina, or I to go any easier on you in the arena because of this."

"I wouldn't dream of it." The android left the ward in a considerably better mood.

* * *

 **3 years later**

"Bass, are you sure you want to do this?"

"Now that the Super Smash Brothers have been disbanded, it's the only purpose I have, Rock."

"But - "

"No. I don't want you to waste your time trying to convince people. You'll only make yourself look worse. Besides, if there's anything these last few years have taught me, it's that our legacies define us once we're gone. It just needs to be known that I did this for the right reasons."

The other fighters were already waiting for Master Hand to open portals back to their world. Morgan gave Mega Man one last hug and a flower before going to join her parents, causing him to tense up, but he returned it nonetheless. Bass raised a hand in a farewell salute that Chrom and Robin returned before stepping through. Lucina and Morgan smiled at them and waved goodbye before the family stepped through the portal to their own world.

"Nice to see that they can at least be happy," Bass sighed.

"You deserve to be too, Bass - "

"No, I don't. I'm a war machine and always will be. Social interaction, even on a casual level like this, has never been a strong suit of mine and quite frankly I'm surprised that this level exists at all in my programming. The only happiness I get is by destroying and killing. That's how I'm programmed. The old man's mistake was that he made it so, regardless of who it was. So I'm going to do that to him, and see how he likes being on the receiving end of it." Anger laced his voice.

Master Hand had come to the pair. "Ready?" They both nodded.

He opened a portal for Mega Man to Dr. Light's lab before turning to Bass. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I have no choice. It's the only redemption I can seek."

"Very well." Master Hand opened up a portal to the interior of Skull Castle. "Good luck."

* * *

Dr. Wily sat up straighter in his chair as the alarm went off. Slamming a button on his desk to activate remote turrets inside the castle and summon the enemies he'd stationed within, he pushed another to alert the Robot Masters. Thank Einstein he'd been able to finish repairing all of them, fortify the interior of the fortress, and complete Project Infinity in time. Bass had no way of knowing how close he'd been to catching his old master at below his best.

"So...he thinks he can stop me, eh? Well, I've had three years to plan for both him and Mega-brat. I'm more prepared than ever before!" He keyed his mic to issue orders to his Robot Masters. "Destroy him!"

* * *

 _"Just as I thought. The old man's going to send the others to do his dirty work for him. No matter..."_ Bass noticed Quick Man approaching fast and brought out Time Stopper. He was instantly frozen and Bass tore his body apart with a barrage of shots. _"I have all of their weaknesses. And a few other weapons, too."_

Slash Man came at him next, riding atop Turbo Man's car form. Bass fired off a Freeze Cracker that sent the former tumbling off his ride. Turbo Man popped out of vehicle form and threw a Scorch Wheel, which Bass dodged before jamming his buster into a gap in his armor before firing a Noise Crush into him. Turbo Man's body shuddered violently as the powerful sound waves bounced around inside of him, wreaking havoc on his delicate transformation machinery. Slash Man, meanwhile, was rolling on the ground, engulfed in flames caused by the Scorch Wheel. Bass froze him with another Freeze Cracker and used the window to finish off Turbo Man. The frozen form of Slash Man was soon run over by a drill-tank enemy that blew apart when Bass hit it with another charged shot, the explosion finishing the former off as well.

"Time for a fatal attraction, traitor!" Magnet Man raised both hands and the magnetic field generated was so powerful it caused the air around him to shimmer. Bass fired a Thunder Beam back at him. While even the pitiful projectile version of Spark Shock would have caused critical damage to his powerful but sensitive electromagnets, the Thunder Beam both destroyed them and overloaded his body. Magnet Man collapsed, smoke pouring from his armor joints.

 _"Four down, seventy-three to go."_

* * *

"Grr..." While Wily hadn't expected his Robot Masters to be able to dispose of Bass, the additional support provided by the castle's interior defenses and lesser enemies should have at least damaged him. But nothing had touched him. He had indeed gotten a lot better during his time in the Smash Brothers. It was a shame that more than his skill had changed; the ways in which he was utilizing his various weapons exceeded that of Wily's most synchronized Robot Master teams.

It was time to start getting serious. "Sunstar! Your time has come!"

* * *

A hidden capsule shot out of the floor in front of Bass. Its covering slid open to reveal a robot in cream-and-blue armor with suns adorning his joints.

"It is time for you to bow before your god, or be erased from existence!" Sunstar's eyes opened, revealing irises the color and consistency of fire itself, and he raised his cannon. It gathered energy for a second before he unleashed his Nova Beam, cutting a huge swath of castle apart as he chased Bass with it.

Bass fired a charged shot back, knowing that his regular rapid-fire shots would do almost nothing, even if Sunstar's armor wasn't as strong as it was originally. Sunstar stopped firing long enough to dodge, and fired his own shots in return. Bass leaped up a wall to dodge and this time succeeded in hitting his opponent. But the damage didn't seem to do much more than annoy the alien superandroid. He fired off two energy waves before switching to his own version of Mercury's Grab Buster. Bass, however, was ready for it, and raised the Mirror Buster to absorb the attacks. Its retaliatory energy shot missed, but Bass managed to knock Sunstar down again by firing at him as he was coming out of a roll.

Just as it seemed the former had the upper hand, many blocks of gel began to move into the hallway. Once they had all fully formed, Bass found himself facing the Yellow Devil, Dark Moon, Ra Devil, Yellow Devil MK-II, Green Devil, and a pair of green-and-orange gel blobs that he recognized as the Twin Devils.

Sunstar, meanwhile, took advantage of the distraction to prepare for his ultimate attack, Solar Rain. Bass realized too late what was happening. While his shot struck Sunstar, it was too late. The alien robot spread his arms wide and glowed brightly. Suddenly hundreds of tiny plasma raindrops were burning through everything within the vicinity, including the fortress walls and floor.

A quick self-diagnostic showed Bass that his vital systems were functional, if damaged. Green Devil and the Twin Devils hadn't been so fortunate, though the others escaped damage. Bass quickly shot away the remains of Green Devil's gel that was protecting its eye and blew it apart. The eye of the Twin Devils had been separated from its two bodies in the confusion and Bass launched a Black Hole Bomb at it as it tried to reunite with its bodies. The damaged eye was crushed by the vortex. Bass wasn't watching, however, as he had to leap aside to dodge a fiery spinning dash from Sunstar.

"You won't be so lucky next time!" Sunstar's body glowed brightly and he dashed forward with Rolling Sun again. Unfortunately, he had failed to account for the Black Hole Bomb that was slowly ripping the Twin Devil eye apart. The vortex didn't damage him, but it gave Bass the opportunity he needed. Dodging shots from Dark Moon, Ra Devil, and the two Yellow Devils as he ran, he braced himself for the pain and grabbed the still-glowing Sunstar as the Black Hole Bomb expired.

Thankful that Rock had provided him with the weapon data of Dr. Light's Robot Masters more than ever, Bass used Super Arm to keep Sunstar within his grasp while using him as a shield against the barrage of shots flying at him, adding to the damage by shooting at weakened spots in his armor with his own weapons. Eventually, the Devils stopped shooting, probably because Wily had taken control of them. Sunstar, meanwhile, was still struggling, though even he had no chance against the strength of Super Arm.

"Treble!" Bass threw Sunstar at the closest of the Devils, which instinctively fired at the incoming projectile. The blinding flash of Sunstar's overloading power core gave Bass the cover he needed as he held his arms out to receive Treble's fusing form. Now powered up with Treble Boost, Bass flew between the Devils, blasting their eyes as he went. They disassembled and kept throwing their pieces in his direction, but the speed at which he was moving was causing confusion, and their pieces were starting to mingle. The original Yellow Devil formed just long enough for Bass to zap it with another Thunder Beam, and as it began to break down Dark Moon did the same. Their pieces went flying after him, but as he expected, when they had no more to throw and tried to reform, they had accidentally fused themselves. Bass blew up the eye of Yellow Devil and its pieces disintegrated, allowing Dark Moon to reform. Fortunately, it chose to shoot at him instead of disassembling.

That was all the opening he needed. Bass dove at it, charging the Treble Boost's rocket fist. Just as he launched it, however, a lucky shot from Ra Devil knocked out the Treble Boost's stabilizer. Treble tried to cancel the fusion to avoid a crash, but Bass overrode him as he needed the fist to connect and lessen the odds. It did a second later, and Bass' limited control was enough to steer him towards his returning fist. Treble immediately un-fused with his master, but the momentum of the barely-controlled spiral threw Bass into a wall. He slid to the ground twenty feet below without a chance to recover his senses.

Within seconds, the weapons of both remaining Devils were trained on him. A red eye suddenly turned on and the far wall was revealed to be a copy of the Block Devil Bass remembered as a defender of Wily's last fortress.

"Mwahaha! I was worried you might make it further than that, Bass, but you haven't disappointed your father at all by making it this far!" Wily's mocking voice carried through hidden speakers.

"I would sooner die than call you my father, you manipulative son of a bitch!" Bass got back to his feet. "And it will take a _lot_ more than that to bring me down! I'm going to break all your tools and your balls so you won't have a chance to perpetuate or pass down your miserable existence, old man!"

"Why...you insolent piece of scrap metal! Don't think that this is as hard as it will get!"

Bass' internal link with Treble told him that it would take a few minutes for the latter's damage to repair enough to fuse again. He would have to do this the hard way.

Ra Devil continued to fire shots at him while Yellow Devil MK-II started to break down for a physical onslaught. Despite its history, Bass wasn't fazed.

"No invincible energy shield for you to hide behind this time!" Dodging the latter Devil's body pieces, he started wall-jumping (a trick Mega Man had taught him during his time in Smash) and attacked with a furious onslaught of melee weapons as he fell past the beast's large eye. Dozens of cuts were left in it from repeated uses of Tengu Blade and Slash Claw. Just before he fell past, Bass switched to Top Spin. Battering the already-damaged eye with dozens of blows, he emerged and swiped the eye with Flame Sword before finally falling past. He was struck by a piece of the Block Devil as he fell, but the same part shattered the Ra Devil's eye as it was unable to reverse direction fast enough. Bass blasted the opening with a charged shot, and with a burst of flame from its eye Ra Devil began to dissolve like its brothers had earlier.

* * *

Wily seethed as Yellow Devil MK-II went offline a few moments later. He'd expected Bass to use the Hard Knuckle or Crash Bomber to damage the eye, but he'd instead used Super Arm's ridiculous strength to shatter the eye with melee blows. The Block Devil wasn't going to hold him for long, so Wily transferred control back to its normal AI and pressed one more button.

A number of his other previous fortress guardians (at least, those that could move independently) were soon assaulting Bass. He didn't expect them to last too long, either, as their size and crowd-clearing abilities were likely to bring more harm upon each other than their target.

No, this was all a distraction so that the awakening of his greatest creation could commence. Light was still alive, so there was no point inserting Project Infinity into the capsule yet. But nevertheless, he would have to make sure that Zero was functional enough to fight. Limping over to a hidden elevator at the back of the control center, he was soon whisked down to where his ultimate creation resided, making sure to leave noticeable traces of his flight. If Bass made it this far, the doctor figured he might as well lead him to his final fight. The less time he wasted putting him down, the better.

* * *

Bass fired a Search Snake at Doc Robot, who was currently emulating Quick Man, from the back of the Mecha Dragon, which was rearing and unsuccessfully trying to shake him. The homing serpent found its target in short order, latching onto Doc Robot's foot and getting to work chewing through the tough armor. Doc Robot switched to emulating Bubble Man and blasted it with a Bubble Lead, the concentrated sulfuric acid dissolving the Search Snake in seconds. Bass switched to Shadow Blade, knowing that his opponent's weaknesses changed with each emulation, and threw a pair of the shurikens. Doc Robot switched to Air Man mode and blew them away with a tornado. Seeing his chance Bass dove off the Mecha Dragon's back and tackled Doc Robot, summoning a Leaf Shield. He directed each of the razor-edged metallic leaves into Doc Robot's buster, which began to whine as its internal fan summoned a tornado to blow Bass off.

There was a horrible grinding sound as the leaves tore the fan blades from their mount and a shriek as the motor's revolutions surged and it tore itself apart with an explosion of shrapnel. But if the loss of his primary weapon troubled Doc Robot, it didn't show. Bass noticed him shifting modes again and leaped off as Doc Robot switched to Heat Man mode and rushed at him.

Bass fired an Ice Slasher back at him, which caught Doc Robot at the end of his fiery blitz. Frustrated, it switched back to Quick Man mode. Unfortunately the Mecha Dragon finally realized Bass had jumped off its back and had now started lobbing fireballs at random. Doc Robot had a portion of Quick Man's speed and reflexes, but not enough. Bass met his rush head-on, grabbed him by the shoulders, and vaulted over him. A half-second later a fireball from the Mecha Dragon blew Doc Robot apart. A shower of Quick Boomerangs was its reward, and the cutters sliced through Mecha Dragon's vulnerable neck joints and eyes, causing it to roar in pain and spew more fireballs in random directions, mostly hitting just walls and the ceiling of the huge room, but a fair number striking its allies as well.

* * *

"Just a few more moments..." Wily rubbed his hands together with excitement and waited for the computer to notify him when he could proceed. In front of him stood a crib of wires and supports that housed Zero.

A thunderous explosion made him look up nervously. He quickly pulled out a tablet and saw to his horror that Bass had managed to escape the fortress guardians, most of whom appeared to be either blinded or scrambled, and the ones that were not were dead.

Save one. Wily saw Ra Thor set off after Bass and smirked with satisfaction. The awakening could go uninterrupted for a little bit.


	14. Power Awakened

**Author's Note: And here is the final chapter, or, rather, the second part of the final chapter! Yes, I decided to split it instead of making a very, very long finale. A sincere thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story! Your support means a lot to me, thank you!**

 **That being said, I am not done writing** ** _SSB_** **fiction, not by a long shot. I will at this point recommend you to check out Flying Chariot and her work, as well as the collab that we are working on together, hosted on my profile.**

* * *

A blast of red energy flew inches from Bass' left head fin and he turned to see Ra Thor giving chase.

 _"Well, if he wants a fight, I'll give him a fight._ Treble!" Powering up again into Treble Boost, Bass turned around and flew at his opponent, moving erratically to dodge the blasts of energy being sent at him. Ra Thor raised a barrier of energy as he approached. _"So, he thinks I'm going to use the Rocket Buster on him, huh? He's in for a surprise."_ Bass un-fused from Treble and used the momentum of his flight to kick Ra Thor to the ground, the blow passing through the shield without resistance. Unlike shields in Smash, Ra Thor's wasn't able to block melee attacks.

Bass grabbed Ra Thor by the neck, switching to Super Arm again. His forearms swelled to massive size as he pinned the other robot to the wall with one hand and wound back with his other. The blow shook the entire hallway and left Ra Thor's face badly battered, yet he showed no signs of giving up. His body grew hot under Bass' grasp and he let go just before Ra Thor released an energy pulse from his body. Bass was knocked down by it, and now it was his turn to be pinned to the wall. Ra Thor's hand blazed with flickering red energy as he raised his fist, and Bass was rather forcibly reminded of the Falcon Punch when it slammed into him.

Treble teleported in from behind Ra Thor and tackled him. Being used in this manner for most of the Smash tournament had left the wolf extremely well-versed in sudden attacks. While Ra Thor didn't let go of Bass, the latter recovered first owning to Treble clamping his jaws on Ra Thor's neck. He charged another energy pulse, but both of his opponents were ready: Treble teleported away at the last minute and Bass braced himself for the knockback.

Bass checked his weapon energy and cursed as he realized he was out of Thunder Beam. Switching to Cloud Man's Thunder Strike, he started to shower Ra Thor in thunderbolts. Even his resilient body wasn't able to withstand prolonged exposure to a robot's worst enemy, and his limbs were twitching slightly once Bass had finished his onslaught.

 _"So that didn't kill you? Fine. I'll keep throwing weapons at you until you die!"_ Now came a barrage of Spark Shocks. The weak electricity was enough to slow Ra Thor's advance and prevent him from charging retaliatory attacks, but did almost no damage.

Which was exactly what Bass wanted. Ra Thor was about a dozen feet away when Bass dashed forward and switched to Jupiter's Electric Shock. He threw both hands out in front of him and devastating arcs of high-voltage electricity leapt between the two robots. Ra Thor shuddered violently from the onslaught and went limp, but Bass didn't stop until smoke began to seep from his opponent.

Satisfied that Ra Thor was dead, Bass continued down the hall to the control room.

There was nothing left for him to work with. He was trapped. And now Bass was going to make him pay for every manipulation he'd ever pulled.

* * *

Wily looked up and cursed as the lift descended, carrying Bass. It was too soon. He needed at least another minute.

"You're going to pay for messing with me, old man. And the sum's pretty large."

"Bass, remember that I created you! I gave you all the power you now hold! Why would you turn upon he who has bestowed you this gift?"

"You put a price tag on that power. My free will. You've been manipulating me since day one. I don't think I've made any conscious decisions completely of my own will before these last few years. And as I've told you, _nobody_ tells me what to do."

"You don't have 'free will,' fool! No Robot Master is completely independent! Sunstar and Ra Moon had it because they were alien!"

"I don't care. Apparently I have some sort of it, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to break the mandates your coding."

"That might be. But none of that matters now - " Wily darted his hand to flip a final switch to complete Zero's activation. Unfortunately, Bass noticed, and instead of shooting his hand, aimed straight for the main power cable. Zero's body automatically adjusted to the power loss, though the uncalibrated computer overcompensated, resulting in a power surge. Nevertheless, a faint glow started to emit from the crystal in the center of his torso as his systems booted up. "Awaken, Zero!" He pressed another switch and a vacuum tube quickly descended around him, whisking him up to a hidden control center.

"Hhgh..." Zero's head moved feebly, and then jerked upwards. His eyes flickered on, revealing electric blue irises with the Wily symbol overlaid on them instead of pupils. Bass took a step back, unwilling to fire again without knowing exactly what might happen.

"You were foolish to think I was unprepared, _bo_ _y,_ " Wily sneered. "And I did tell you that this project was a long time coming. Well, you gave me both the opportunity and motivation to finish it _early_ , just in time for it to bring about your demise! We'll see how long you can dismiss Zero's power like you did before!"

The cables connected to Zero had detached, with the exception of the ruins of the main power cable, still attached to his back. He took a shaky step forward.

"Pah, don't make me laugh! He can barely walk at the moment - Augh!" Zero dashed forward with blinding speed and seized Bass' neck with both hands. His expression remained blank.

"Haha, marvelous, Zero! Now, do as your father commands and destroy this bastard brother of yours!"

Zero's right fist moved away from Bass' neck and slammed into him with blinding speed. There was no wind-up, no grunt, but it was on par with Ganondorf's Warlock Punch. Bass' eyes flickered to static for a second.

Treble appeared and clamped his jaws on Zero's arm, causing him to let go of Bass. But he didn't even flinch or cry out. The red robot remained mute as he turned his attention to Treble. The wolf was too fast for him, however, and Zero was still adjusting to his body, though he was learning fast. The two danced around each other for a few moments before Treble boosted forward and left a deep slash in Zero's left leg. The latter's face contorted in rage and agony, and Zero growled in frustration as he turned around.

Bass fired a charged shot at him that Zero ducked with surprising speed. Treble transformed into jet mode and knocked Zero off his feet, allowing Bass to grab him and throw Zero into a wall. Unaccustomed to such impacts, Zero's systems were slow to recover, and Bass pinned him to the wall and wound up another Super Arm punch before the former processed what happened.

The wall, however, turned out not to be a wall, but a hidden doorway that lead to another room. This one had a sealed capsule in it that contained a large bank of computers and wires surrounding it. Bass didn't care what they did. Zero got back to his feet much faster, and rushed his opponent again. Bass blew him backwards with a charged shot, sending the red reploid crashing into the capsule and breaking the glass covering on it.

In the control center above, Wily had seen the capsule rupture and laughed softly. Bass didn't know it, but he'd just sealed his own fate. From what Wily could figure, the abrupt power surge had wiped Zero's RAM banks, which was the sole location of the majority of his personality data had been located (Wily hadn't had time to transfer it, save basic things like expressions and his voice imprint, to permanent storage). But the virus in the capsule would write him one to replace that.

"Hmph, this is what you call your ultimate creation, old man?" Bass pointed his weapon at Zero. "You must be getting soft in your dotage."

"Nyheheheh..." faint laughter escaped Zero's mouth. He sat up and his eyes opened again. He had human-like eyes now, and his irises appeared to be crackling with electricity. They focused on Bass with a piercing intensity and a maniacal grin spread across the red robot's face.

Bass thought he'd been fast before, but this was almost at Sonic's level. Zero shot out of the capsule and pummeled him with an endless stream of blows before finally slamming his fist into Bass' chest crystal, shattering it. He staggered backwards and fell on his back. Zero cackled madly and his hands glowed with power as he approached.

 _"There's gotta be a window to wherever the old man's holed up in right now. He wouldn't rely on cameras in case something went wrong during construction."_ As much as the past decades had warped Wily's personality around cruelty and hatred, the doctor had a practical side from his earlier days, something Bass knew all too well. After all, that was how he hatched the majority of his plans.

Zero plunged both hands downwards, aiming to grab Bass' neck. The latter rolled aside and hurled Atomic Fire back at his attacker. It was a long shot, but Bass' guess was proven correct as the fireballs set Zero's hair on fire and he screamed in agony, the gathered energy in his hands disappating.

 _"Typical. Old man didn't learn from the mistakes he made when he built me, or even from Rock's own flaws_ _."_ The powerful energy they both channeled was contained by internal fields, whose generators were sensitive to heat. While it overload was unlikely to cause a shutdown or crippling damage, it forced the dispersion of gathered energy otherwise such damage might occur. Rock had explained the weakness of a chargable buster to him a while ago, and apparently Wily hadn't bothered to change the design even though Zero had no visible buster. Taking advantage of the opening Bass summoned Treble to fuse with him again.

The red robot, however, once again appeared to be overreacting merely because the sensation of burning was new. Once he'd figured out that the flames couldn't do much but scorch his armor and hair and temporarily interrupt his attacks, he attacked Bass with a newfound ferocity, punctuating his blows with feral screams of rage. Bass switched to Astro Crush and bombarded his opponent with meteors, launching them one at a time out of his buster rather than as as storm. The heavy impacts left sizable dents on Zero's armor and cracked the crystals on his chest and helmet, but didn't slow him for long.

"Hahaha! Realized you can't win yet, boy?" Wily taunted.

Incensed, Bass switched to Rain Flush and an acid rainstorm was soon dissolving the walls and floor. Zero growled in frustration at his inability to reach Bass, but the acid rain hadn't been able to even dissolve his armor. It did, however, dissolve part of the lift's shaft, and Bass flew up it, hoping to find another way into Wily's hideout. Zero ran after him, wall-jumping with a fair amount of trouble, but he was becoming more coordinated with each passing second. Bass fired a Hard Knuckle that knocked him off the wall, sending Zero tumbling back down to the bottom. With the few seconds he'd bought he began scanning for organic life. If he couldn't reach Wily directly, at least he'd know where he was.

Suddenly he was yanked backwards as Zero leapt off the wall and grabbed him. The combined weight caused them to start falling, while Zero pounded away at his predecessor and Bass attempted furiously to throw him off.

But his scanner had picked up where Wily was hiding. Bass suddenly boosted downwards, bringing his back up against the wall of the elevator shaft. The collision broke Zero's hold and Bass zoomed back into the room where the red robot had first awakened. A few seconds and a well-placed charged shot later, he'd found the doctor. Before he could shoot, Zero leaped in through the hole in the control center and tackled Bass. Treble un-fused again and appeared behind Zero. The wolf pounced, burying his claws deep into Zero's armor. The latter screamed in rage and leapt up. Treble was unable to free his claws in time and Zero wasted no time in punishing him. Bass switched to Super Arm and slammed Zero from behind, freeing his wolf. No sooner had Treble landed, however, than a blue blast of energy struck him and sent him flying across the room.

Zero stood with his right arm leveled at Bass. Wily didn't know or care why Zero had only noticed now that he had a buster, but it didn't matter. That weapon was in a completely separate class from Bass's. Treble, meanwhile, had turned to Dr. Wily, and was about to pounce on him when Zero took notice and dashed at him. Bass was too slow to stop him and Zero began to rip the wolf apart piece-by-piece, tearing off his armor and shredded his circuitry like paper. Treble's struggles quickly ceased and Zero dropped him unceremoniously before blasting the remains apart with his weapon.

"You...!" Bass lunged, but not at Zero. Instead, he grabbed the surprised Dr. Wily and held him at buster-point. Zero raised his arm and began to charge his buster.

"Zero, what are you doing?! Save your father!" Wily cried. Bass clubbed him hard with his buster, silencing any further words.

"Go on, then, you wanna take me? You'll have to kill your old man first!"

"Don't listen to him, Zero! Save your father, and you will be rewarded beyond measure!"

Zero's aim faltered slightly and his face lost its insane look. He tilted his head to one side as he examined the situation. "No. I must destroy the bastard son," Zero repeated slowly, as if thinking out loud. "Yes..." his maniacal grin returned. "I shall! Hahahaha!"

Bass, realizing that the strategy wasn't going to work, threw Wily forwards into Zero's charged shot and dove out of the way, firing back at the red reploid. He could hear the doctor's agonized scream, but there wasn't time to check whether he was dead or not.

"Deestroyyy! AHAHAHAHA!" Zero let loose another blast from his weapon. Bass rolled to dodge it and did a backflip to avoid the next before throwing more Atomic Fire to disrupt Zero's weapons. It worked, but Zero only got more annoyed.

"Die already!" He charged the Z-buster and let the massive shot loose. Bass threw himself behind a console, which turned out to be a critical mistake. The blast of energy sliced through the computers and the right half of his chest. Though the Z-Buster shot lost a lot of its power and size because it had to pierce through the console, the damage would still have been fatal if it had struck him dead center.

Gritting his teeth in pain, Bass switched back to Super Arm and tore the console from the ground before throwing it. The heavy machinery slammed into Zero and threw him into the far wall with a satisfying crunch. Bass took the opportunity to examine Wily, whose prone form was laying on the ground. The doctor's outfit bore burn marks from the attack, but it had appeared to only graze him. Nevertheless, at his age, he would probably have died from the shock of being burned by searing plasma.

There was no time to ponder the matter further as the thrown console exploded and Zero rushed back at his opponent, screaming with rage. He raised his right fist and charged it with energy, but Bass met the punch and the strength of Super Arm prevailed. The recoiling energy blast knocked Zero backwards. This time, he picked up a jagged length of metal before attacking again.

 _"Dammit, he's got a range advantage."_ Sliding under Zero's first swipe, Bass grabbed the arm holding the crude weapon and attempted to rip it from his grasp. To his surprise, Zero did a backflip and stomped on his face, pinning the former to the ground.

The red robot leisurely reached down and grabbed Bass in a chokehold. He managed to pry himself out of it with Super Arm, though Zero lost interest in him and started rummaging for something to use as a weapon. Bass crawled slowly over to Wily so as to not attract Zero's attention. The latter straightened up a second later, a piece of pipe in his hand, and realized where Bass had gone.

Wily screamed in pain as Bass forcefully hauled him to his feet. "You're not going to outlast me, old man!" Zero walked forwards, his grin still in place, swinging his pipe from side to side.

"No! Back, Zero!" Wily screamed. "You wouldn't dare kill your father!"

"Pah! Father?" Bass scoffed. "You don't care about him! He'll just become another failed project, another bastard child, when you come up with something else!"

Zero stopped and the smirk dropped from his face. "What?"

"You're just a pawn, Zero. You're just doing what he wants! He'll just disown you later when he has no need of you any more!"

"I...am just a pawn...?" Zero repeated stupidly, looking at nothing. Then his fists clenched and his face twisted into a vicious snarl. "No. I am not. I will prove it!" He rushed at Bass, but at the last minute, changed his course and slammed Wily with the pipe. The latter dodged the blow but it still struck his leg. There was the audible sound of breaking bones and Wily collapsed, moaning in pain.

"Hmph, that's what you get for thinking you can control things outside your power _again,_ old m - !" Zero now turned to Bass and grabbed him again. Before Bass could so much as cry out in surprise Zero rammed the length of pipe straight through his shattered chest crystal with so much force that it tore through the armor plating on his back.

"U...ugh..." Bass tried to shove the crude weapon out of his body, but Zero relinquished his grip on his neck and angled the pipe upwards, causing Bass to slide further down the pipe.

Zero suddenly positioned his victim so they were making eye contact. "You are right. I am nobody's pawn. Not yours, either." The fluids leaking from Bass' damaged body were making it difficult for his hands to grip the pipe tightly enough to lift himself off. Zero changed the angle on the pipe and jerked it sideways, causing Bass to scream as it caused even more damage. "I destroy. That is what I was built for. And so I will destroy everything. Starting with you."

Zero raised his other arm, now formed into a buster, and began charging a shot. Bass resigned himself to his fate and ceased struggling.

 _"I...I've failed...I'm sorry, Rock. He's going to be after you next. I just hope you and Blues can succeed where I didn't."_

The flash of the weapon lit up the entire room.


	15. Epilogue: Sealed Away

**Author's Note: A bit of an epilogue to show the reactions of the other characters.**

 **And, of course, to find out what happens to Zero.**

* * *

Zero yanked the pipe away and Bass' lifeless form fell to the ground.

"I...I did it! I've finally gotten rid of that pest!" Wily got up on one knee. "Excellent job, Zero! You have made your father proud!"

Wily's jubilation was short-lived. "Waugh!" Zero turned on him and seized him by the neck.

"How much of that is true? Tell me!"

"Z-Zero, you...you are my legacy...! I...wouldn't treat...my last child with...such callousness!"

The red robot considered for a second then let him go.

"Fool," Wily grumbled under his breath.

Zero heard it. "You think I'm a fool? I'll show you what a fool would do!" A searing pain erupted across Wily's body as the pipe crashed into him. His fall was caught by the red robot's foot slamming into his back, and a second later Zero's fist sent him flying backwards. Fortunately, he was thrown to the floor and not into some piece of machinery. Such an impact would have killed him instantly at his age; it was a miracle that the first blow alone hadn't killed him give how close it came to shattering his whole rib cage.

"Nyheheheheh..." Zero advanced. "It feels so good..."

Wily scrambled backwards and realized he was near the console he needed. Praying that it still worked, he flipped some switches and pressed a command on the screen. Zero was too busy watching him struggle to comprehend what was going on, but he kept drawing closer, relishing the moment when he could finish Wily off.

Wily flipped one final switch and was entering a command. Zero read the text and it dawned on him.

"No!" He hurled the pipe and the screen. Wily had just finished inputting text when the pipe struck the screen, shattering it and his right hand. Zero followed up with two hard kicks. One missed, but the other struck the doctor in the face, shattering his nose. For the umpteenth time that day Wily screamed in pain. He lay on the floor, cradling his right hand in his left and holding both over his nose.

"Hahahaha! Ahahahaha - huh?!" Zero's eyes unfocused and his head erupted with pain. He stumbled forward and tried to kick Wily again, but by now his vision was so unfocused he missed and fell. The pain in his head multiplied as he tried again and dozens of voice spoke in his mind at once.

 _"...Protect...your father..."_

 _"...After him...He is my nemesis..."_

 _"...He gave me motivation to finish you..."_

 _"...Destroy the blue robot..."_

 _"...You are the strongest..."_

 _"...My masterpiece..."_

Zero continued to stumble around blindly as the override continued to fight with his conscience and the virus for control. Finally he let loose one last scream and fell out the hole in the control center. There was a crash as he hit the floor below, and then all was quiet.

* * *

Wily watched his lesser minions repairing the damaged capsule while others were repairing Zero per his instructions. Because it hurt to speak, he was issuing commands through his tablet, which one of the Sniper Joes had brought from the control room.

"All is ready, master."

 _"Good,"_ Wily typed. _"Place him inside, and seal it. Then, initiate a personality download. After that is done, I want you to rig both this cavern and the castle with demolition charges. Set the timer for one hour and send yourselves back to your standby positions to await further instructions."_

"Yes, sir." The Sniper Joe saluted, oblivious to the fact that he'd just been ordered to kill himself.

Wily set the tablet down. There was no point trying to live through such grievous injuries. Zero would ensure his ultimate victory, as would the Maverick Virus. True, he had been hoping to use one of the two to dispose of the Blue Bomber, but he was satisfied with this outcome as well. Light would think he'd prevailed, and the world would come to see just how wrong his former friend had been in thinking that. He would achieve what he had set out to do: disgrace and discredit Dr. Light. It would just take time.

Wily closed his eyes, feeling something he hadn't felt in a long time. Fulfillment.

The castle would blow within the hour, and the cavern with Zero's body wouldn't be disturbed for almost a century.

* * *

From afar, Master Hand saw the castle collapse into a massive mushroom cloud and turned away. While he had known about Zero, he couldn't mess with this timeline any more than he already had and thus couldn't warn Bass.

There was a portal already waiting behind him and soon there was no indication that the God of Smash had ever been present.

"I take it that he failed?" Crazy, blunt as always, asked as soon as he returned.

"Yes. Pardon me for a few hours, Crazy." He didn't need to explain why. Whenever a fighter was killed, there was a letter sent out to all representatives of that tournament as a way of honoring their comrade.

* * *

"Ah...a letter from Master Hand, already?" Chrom mused as the messenger departed. "What do you suppose this means, Robin?"

"Whatever it is, it must be important, Chrom. We should open it."

"I concur. Whatever news this brings must be serious," Lucina said. "We should find a more private place to view this. Morgan, please leave us for the moment."

"Mother, I've been in the world of Smash too! It's not like I won't know what's going on!"

"Morgan..." Robin started.

"Please?" She stared at them with puppy eyes until her parents relented.

"Very well, but you must promise to keep this quiet, understood?"

"Yes, Father."

Robin was the first to react to the news. "Well...it seems Bass wasn't as fortunate as I at changing fate. What a tragic end..."

"Well, things will work out for their world either way since Mega Man's still alive," Morgan pointed out.

"He was quite a formidable opponent; I worry that the power used to stop him may not be within Mega Man's ability to fight either," Lucina mused. "Regrettably, we cannot alter the events of other worlds as we can ours. They are on their own."

"Then let us hope his only act of individualism will be remembered. A shame that he never got to truly make anything of himself," Chrom said solemnly.

They stood in silence for a few moments before the letter burst into flames, causing Robin to drop it with a yell.

"Well, that is that," Chrom sighed. He went back to discussing with Robin about the affairs of the kingdom.

"Don't you think we're being a little insensitive to his memory, Mother?" Morgan asked.

"What can we do, Morgan? None in this realm save ourselves know about Smash or any of the others, and we are strictly prohibited from intervening in their world. While moving on so soon from the loss of a comrade does not seem proper to me, either, we must. I discussed a similar topic with the Hero-King; such is the nature of the friendships we forge during these tournaments."

* * *

Rock set the garbage bin down by the collection site and turned around to head home.

He had been worried about Bass since they had parted; the silence over official news channels so far meant that the outcome was likely one of the two extremes: either he survived, or Wily did. While he would have liked to help, Bass was right. Someone had to act as the safety net in case he failed. And Rock was better cut-out for the job than the former.

He noticed the mailbox had its flag up, indicating the mail had arrived, and he opened it.

"Hm...what's this?" Rock opened the mailbox to see a letter with the Smash seal on it at the top of the pile. He took the rest of the mail inside before prying it open.

"Oh no...I knew it was too dangerous," he muttered as he read the letter.

The blue bomber finished it and re-read it before looking off into the distance. "Well...you tried, Bass. Now I'll make good on my promise to you. I'll let the world know of who you truly were, and keep it safe."

He stood and saluted the sky. "We may have had our differences, but we weren't so different in the end. I'm sorry things didn't work out better for you, but I'll see to it that your sacrifice will not be in vain."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Again, a sincere thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, and followed this story! I greatly appreciate the support!**

 **I also want to give a huge shout out to whoever added this story to the community "The Hidden Gems in the Soil." It's an honor to see my writing recognized like that!**


	16. Extra: Bass Bio

**Author's Note:** Since the story's over, I figured I would post the _Smash_ profile I created for Bass. I originally created this because I needed some semblance of a moveset to make fight scenes easier to write. The theology behind this was to make Bass a melee-oriented version of Mega Man that uses more energy-based attacks and relies more on his partner than Mega Man does Rush.

And, of course, to offer skilled players additional reward for taking time to master his moveset, because I am tired of For Glory people beating me with really stupid tactics because of lag.

* * *

 **Availability**

Complete Classic Mode as Mega Man.

Bass must then be fought and defeated on Wily Castle in a 2-stock battle, and KO'd at least once by Yellow Devil.

* * *

 **Attribute differences from Mega Man:**

-Bass has a slightly higher walking speed than Mega Man, at 1.1, and a much higher sprint speed, at 1.91.

-Bass' fall speed is the same as Mega Man's, 1.8.

* * *

 **Neutral Attack: Bass Buster**

Fires a burst of five shots in quick succession, dealing 1% damage each. Lacks a sweetspot compared to Mega Man's ability.

* * *

 **Forward Tilt: Bass Buster**

Identical to neutral attack, but Bass fires while running.

* * *

 **Up Tilt: Somersault Kick**

Bass does a backflip while kicking outwards. Deals 22% (clean), 15% (mid), and 12% (late) damage. Opponents hit at the beginning of the move suffer heavy vertical knockback, while opponents afterwards are knocked backwards. Based on Bass' melee attack from _Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters_.

* * *

 **Down Tilt: Pharaoh Wave**

Bass launches a wave of solar energy that travels on the ground, dealing 4% damage and capable of hitting an opponent up to 4 times. Based on Pharaoh Man's weapon from _Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters_. The wave grows in height as it travels, from the height of R.O.B's Gyro at its start to as tall as Bass at the end of the move.

* * *

 **Dash Attack: Sonic Crusher**

Bass surrounds himself with energy and dashes forward approximately 4 character lengths. Deals 9.5% damage and yields moderate knockback, but only hits once. Based one of Bass' custom moves in _Mega Man 7_ 's hidden two-player mode.

* * *

 **Forward Smash: Charge Shot**

Bass instantly fires a charged shot, which travels a moderate distance before disappearing. Damage and knockback are identical to Mega Man's charge shot if halfway charged (~15.5%), however the projectile is much faster and the move has less startup and ending lag than Mega Man's. Can be charged to delay firing, but damage and knockback do not increase with charging.

* * *

 **Up Smash: Copy Vision**

Bass performs a somersault kick before summoning an energy clone that attacks the opponent from the other direction with the same move. High knockback; each kick deals 12% damage, however the clone appears at a preset distance from Bass, making it impractical to use effectively against players with high damage. Based on Astro Man's weapon from _Mega Man & Bass_. Charging the attack increases only the damage of Bass' kick and the knockback of the clone's.

* * *

 **Down Smash: Napalm Bomb**

Bass launches a Napalm Bomb from both arms at the ground. The bombs explode the next time they hit the ground or on any opponents in the vicinity, dealing 21% damage; however, their uncharged bounce height is only about as high as Bass himself. The bombs leave behind fireballs for two seconds after they explode, which deals 1% damage every 3 frames if a player runs into them and deals moderate horizontal knockback (on par with PK Fire, Arcfie, and Arcthunder). If struck in midair, players will suffer heavy vertical knockback. Charging the attack increases damage of the explosion and the height of the bounce; fire pillar damage and the entire move's knockback are unaffected. Based on Napalm Man's weapon from _Mega Man 5_.

* * *

 **Neutral Air: Bass Buster**

Identical to neutral attack, but Bass fires while airborne.

* * *

 **Forward Air: Time Attack**

Bass performs a near-instant 4-hit combo by stopping time around his opponent. The first three (standard punches) moves are automatically performed, however to perform the final move, a somersaulting kick, the player must input forward air again at precisely the right moment. Very difficult to fully utilize as the combo hits quickly; about 3 frames of leeway for entering the control input. The first three moves deal 2, 3, and 5% damage respectively, while the fourth move deals 18% damage and either heavy horizontal knockback or a powerful meteor effect, depending on which part of the move (early or late, respectively) strikes the opponent. A purple aura will be left behind by the move for four seconds if nobody is within range. The affected zone will also slow players and projectiles down by anywhere from 90% to 30% (slowdown drops by 15% per second) if they pass through it. Based loosely on Flash Man's weapon from _Mega Man 2_.

* * *

 **Back Air: Tengu Blade**

Bass turns and slashes behind him, throwing a projectile that curves in a steep upward arc once the move has finished. The projectile deals no knockback and 4% damage, while the slash hits up to three times, dealing 3, 4, and 8% damage for hits 1-3, respectively. The last strike also possesses powerful horizontal knockback. Based on Tengu Man's weapon from _Mega Man & Bass_.

* * *

 **Up Air: Treble Lunge**

Bass summons his wolf, Treble, who grabs an opponent and hurls them upward. Deals only 5% damage but has strong vertical knockback, with a high chance of KO if used near the top of the screen, regardless of damage. If a character is not present within a 1-character-length radius of Bass, however, the move has no effect.

* * *

 **Down Air: Somersault Kick**

Bass spins in a vertical circle, swinging his leg out. Damage and knockback increases throughout the duration of the move, from 8% at the start to 15% at the end. If the kick connects with an opponent below Bass, it has a strong meteor effect.

* * *

 **Grab: Magnetize**

Bass magnetizes himself, drawing in opponents within a 5-character-length radius and grabbing them once they draw within arm's reach. The magnetic pull lasts for a maximum of 3 seconds and cannot be canceled once executed. Once Bass grabs the character, Treble will teleport in behind Bass. Based on an attack performed by Magnet Man from _Mega Man 3_ and Spring Man from _Mega Man 7_.

 **Pummel**

Bass punches his opponent with his free hand. Deals 3% damage.

 **Forward Throw**

Bass throws his opponent forward, dealing 8% damage.

 **Back Throw**

Bass throws his opponent towards Treble, who will attempt to slash at him/her. Deals 8% if Treble fails to connect and 13% if Treble hits. The initial throw can KO at high percentages, but if Treble lands the bite all knockback is immediately canceled.

 **Up Throw**

Bass throws his opponent to Treble, who boosts straight up towards the vertical blast zone (his trajectory can be affected by a grabbed opponent's DI, though the effect is reduced compared to standard DI), and throws the grabbed opponent after 2 seconds. Deals 5% damage, but can KO as low as 90% if combined with poor DI and close proximity to the blast zone.

 **Down Throw**

Bass throws his opponent to the ground, and Treble will dash forward and slash at him/her. The combined attack deals 14% damage but offers very low knockback.

 **Floor Attacks**

Identical to Mega Man's.

 **Edge Attack**

Bass backflips off the edge, performing a half-somersault kick. A cosmetic change from Mega Man's edge attack; functionally they are the same.

* * *

 **Neutral Special: Magic Card**

Bass fires a projectile that disarms opponents of any items they are using and deals 4% damage while lowering his damage by 2% for every hit. The projectile travels a large distance before returning to Bass, can be aimed in three (up, down, and backwards) directions, and hits all opponents in its path. If opponents are close enough, the card will bring their item to Bass, and unused items grabbed by the card at any distance (excluding Smash Balls not collected by characters) will also be given to Bass. If the card hits any items in use (Pokemon, assist trophies, etc.) within the same distance that it can steal items, it will immediately cancel active items out. Based on Magic Man's weapon from _Mega Man & Bass_.

 **Neutral Special Custom 1: Thunder Beam**

Bass fires an electric projectile capable of hitting opponents up to 6 times, with each hit dealing 5% damage. Based on Elec Man's weapon from _Mega Man (1)_.

 **Neutral Special Custom 2: Spread Drill**

Bass fires a large, slow-moving drill. It causes heavy knockback and deals 9% damage on hit with a chance to hit up to 3 times. Inputting neutral special again causes the drill to split into two smaller drills, with low knockback and dealing 10% damage each but only able to hit once, and inputting it once more causes the smaller drills to split in two again, with knockback being very nonexistent and each drill dealing only 6% damage. Based on Ground Man's weapon from _Mega Man & Bass._

* * *

 **Side Special: Knight Crush**

Bass fires a mace out of his buster, dealing 14.5% damage on hit. The mace will continue to move until it travels offscreen, but simply rolls on the ground rather than bouncing like Dedede's Gordo. Inputting side special again before the mace disappears causes it to return to Bass, though it cannot pass through terrain to do so. Based on Knight Man's weapon from _Mega Man 6_.

 **Side Special Custom 1: Search Snake**

Bass fires a fast-moving snake that latches onto any opponent it runs into. The snake does 9% damage on hit, and 1% per second for 10 seconds or until it is shaken off (by button-mashing, same health as Purple Pikmin). Bypasses any ability or passive that deflects or reflect's projectiles, such as Link/Toon Link's shields and Palutena's Reflect. However, it can be Pocketed (albeit with no damage bonus when thrown back out), absorbed by Rosalilna's Gravitational Pull and Ness/Lucas' PSI Magnet, and deflected by Mario's F.L.U.D.D and R.O.B's Arm Rotor. Search Snakes will deplete the durability of any items the player has (such as Hammers), as well as Robin's last-used item (tome or Levin Sword), at a rate of 1 durability per attack for items and 0.4 durability per attack against Robin. Based loosely on Snake Man's weapon from _Mega Man 3_ and directly on the version used in the _Mega Man_ animated series.

 **Side Special Custom 2: Remote Mine**

Bass fires a steerable mine that latches on to any opponent, trophy, or surface it first comes in contact with. The mine will detonate 100 frames after impact, dealing 2.5% damage per hit until the final hit, which does 8% damage. Inputting side special again while a mine is onscreen will detonate it immediately. Hits up to 10 times across a relatively long time span (about 50 frames total) and the explosion has considerable freeze frames, making it a good combo move. Shields will detonate Remote Mine immediately, however the weapon cannot deal shield damage or stun shielded opponents, and players who shield a Remote Mine are given 20 frames of intangibility to escape the blast, with the number doubling to 40 if it is perfect-shielded. Based on Pirate Man's weapon from _Mega Man & Bass_.

* * *

 **Up Special: Teleport**

Bass teleports to a higher location. Similar to Zelda's Farore's Wind, however it travels greater distance, deals no damage, and renders him helpless.

 **Up Special Custom 1: Treble Rescue**

Bass initiates emergency fusion with Treble, granting him flight in all directions for three seconds. Bass can use any aerial or special move while flying, and his double-jump is reset (though the first jump is still taken if Treble Rescue expires while he is airborne), though he cannot use Treble Rescue again unless he touches the ground or is hit. Bass' horizontal flight speed is slightly faster than his walking speed, however his upward flight speed is significantly slower than his fall speed (at 0.7), meaning that players must rely upon jumps for vertical recovery.

 **Up Special Custom 2: Treble Toss**

Treble grabs Bass and throws him onto the stage, causing the player to take 8% damage in exchange for guaranteed recovery. This move can cause a self-destruct starting at around 175%.

* * *

 **Down Special: Mirror Buster**

Bass raises a barrier in front of him. Any projectiles will be absorbed and the combined damage released as an energy blast that deals 1.1x the damage absorbed and 1.2x knockback of the projectile with the most knockback that the Mirror Buster absorbed. Melee attacks will add to the damage but not knockback, and can still damage Bass. However, the barrier will remain even if Bass is knocked down. The Mirror Buster will remain until it absorbs a total of 100% damage (at which point it will automatically discharge, but will not have the damage and knockback multipliers) or the player releases the shot by inputting down special again.

 **Down Special Custom 1: Scorch Wheel**

Bass surrounds himself with flames, which block projectiles and deal 4% damage if Bass runs into an opponent, but can only hit half as often as Mega Man's Leaf Shield. The flame wheel disperses after 6 seconds, however it does not dissipate if Bass is hit by melee attacks (as it does not block them). The shield can also be thrown for 9.5% damage, traveling about half of the length of Final Destination before dissipating. Based on Turbo Man's weapon from _Mega Man 7_.

 **Down Special Custom 2: Crystal Eye**

Bass surrounds himself with a dome of crystal, which blocks all attacks for 7 seconds and reflects any projectiles that strike it within 7 frames of formation. Opponents who run into the shield will not suffer any damage and Bass cannot attack, however he is effectively invincible to all damage (including stage hazards) and can move while the shield is active, however his walking speed is reduced to 1 and his fall speed is doubled. Can be canceled by inputting Down Special again. Based loosely on Crystal Man's weapon from _Mega Man 5_.

* * *

 **Final Smash: Treble Boost**

Bass combines with Treble to further increase his power and defense. Bass can execute any other moves once Treble Boost is activated, however his Neutral Attack, Forward Tilt, Neutral Air, Down Air, Up Special, and Side Special are replaced with more powerful moves. In addition, Treble boost grants invincibility and replaces all of his throws with a powerful attack that causes Bass to throw opponents off the stage with great force, dealing 25% damage and capable of KO'ing as low as 75%. However, Bass' movement speed on the ground is reduced to 1 and the Treble Boost only lasts 20 seconds. Based on Bass' abilities as a boss in _Mega Man 7_ and _Mega Man 8_.

 **Treble Boost move changes:**

 **Neutral Attack/Forward Tilt/Neutral Air:** **Super Bass Buster**

Behaves identically to the standard Bass Buster, except that its damage per shot is tripled.

 **Down Air: Astro Crush**

Bass fires a holographic meteor from his buster about five character lengths in diameter, crushing opponents underneath it. Deals 20% damage on midair hit and 30% damage to opponents on the ground, though the meteor will shatter upon hitting any terrain. Opponents struck high enough in the air on large maps or that fast-fall can be hit again in midair or crushed when the meteor hits the ground. Both types of hits can cause heavy upward vertical knockback, and are capable of instantly breaking shields. Based on Astro Man's weapon from _Mega Man 8_.

 **Up Special: Flight**

Treble Boost's rocket boosters ignite, granting Bass up to five seconds of flight. Any aerials can be performed while he is flying and his jump is reset, though he cannot use Flight again unless he is hit. Unlike Treble Rescue, Bass' upward movement speed remains the same as his horizontal movement speed.

 **Side Special: Homing Rocket Buster**

Bass fires a powerful rocket fist with a strong homing effect, dealing 20% damage and high knockback. The fist travels only a short distance before returning to Bass, but is capable of changing direction to follow opponents infinitely and will not expire as long as it stays close enough to Bass (said radius decreases when Bass is either airborne or moving). If another opponent ventures within the radius, the fist will not change targets. Should an opponent be struck from directly above by the fist, it delivers a very strong meteor effect.

* * *

 **Idle Poses**

-Bass turns his right hand into a buster and aims it.

-Treble warps in and warps back out. Though he has a hitbox, hitting him will not damage Bass.

* * *

 **Taunts**

 **Up Taunt:**

Does a backflip.

 **Side Taunt:**

Sweeps his cape to one side and beckons with his hand. He will sometimes say "Your doom awaits!"

 **Down Taunt:**

Bass raises his hands and surrounds himself with an aura of Bassnium, similar to his victory poses from _Mega Man: The Power Battle_ and _Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters_. Deals 2% damage if an opponent runs into it.

* * *

 **Cheer**

Bass! Bass! Bass!

* * *

 **On-Screen Appearance**

Warps onto the stage and performs his down taunt.

* * *

 **Victory Fanfare**

Identical to Mega Man's.

* * *

 **Victory Poses**

-Throws his cape aside and poses with Treble, similar to their trophy pose except Bass crosses his arms.

*If Mega Man is present after a match, Bass will additionally say " _This_ is Mega Man?", a reference to his debut scene in _Mega Man 7_.

-Radiates Bassnium around himself, saying "You're no match for my power."

*If the Elec Man assist trophy was used in battle, there is a chance Bass will say instead "All of you are useless scrap!"

-Leaps in the air and fires a spread of Bass Buster pellets at the camera.


End file.
